We did it!
Faversham Cottage Hospital is to reopen on 2 December, five months since it closed its doors.
In July, the hospital closed without any warning. The NHS said it was temporary, but since then its future has seemed to hang in the balance. The one-month closure became two months and then three… and like many local residents, I thought this closure was going to become permanent. We were staring down the barrel at the loss of our much-loved local hospital.
Thanks to the hard work of many people, it lives to see another day.
In a meeting today, the NHS told me their recruitment campaign has been a success. They are confident that they will meet the 2 December target to reopen the cottage hospital with 16 inpatient beds.
This is fantastic news and a huge relief.
Thank you to everyone who signed my Save Faversham Hospital petition and everyone who came along to the public meeting with the NHS. Your support for this campaign has made a real difference.
And thank you to the Friends of Faversham Cottage Hospital who kept the hope alive, and the NHS staff who did so much work to recruit to the nursing team.
I will be delighted to see the hospital open its doors again and look forward to visiting soon.
Please share this post with others who’ve feared for the future of the hospital.
I know so many people have been worried about this so it’s great to have some good news to pass on.
