Councillors from Thanet District Council have criticised a public consultation for stroke clinics in the county for including “loaded” questions.

This comes after Kent and Medway Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) launched a public inquiry into the NHS’ plans which could lead to the closure of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital’s stroke unit.

The NHS is set to increase the facilities of half of the stroke units in the county.

Out of six clinics in the county, five are earmarked for the new facilities.

Margate’s QEQM hospital is not considered as an option while William Harvey Hospital in Ashford is included in every suggestion.

At the council’s QEQM Hospital Cabinet Advisory Group today (April 19), district councillors slammed the stroke consultation documents for leading people to “show them what they want to hear”.

Cllr Ian Gregory (Cons) said: “I’ve read through it several times and the fact is the whole thing is all geared towards an outcome that they want.

“You can’t answer the questions if you feel that we should have something at QEQM or that we should be taking some of the services away from Thanet.”

Cllr Jennifer Matterface (Lab) said: “These questions are loaded.

“Giving us only three options of hospitals makes it a very fraught questionnaire.

“We don’t want to think that the NHS trust has already made up its mind but we have a strong suspicion that it has.”

She added the demographics of Thanet should warrant a stroke unit due to the area’s ageing population, deprivation and the limited number of people who have cars.

The STP has said the survey was approved by a research company to make sure it is not biased.

The questionnaire includes open text boxes for people to make further suggestions to the service.

On the STP website, it says: “We believe that everyone in Kent and Medway, including residents of Thanet, would benefit from the creation of hyper acute stroke units.

“We will, however, consider all the consultation feedback stating concerns about increased travel times and loss of local services as part of the final decision making following consultation.”

At the meeting in Margate, the councillors filled out the questionnaire collectively.

They said they “strongly agree” that the county needs hyperacute stroke units but “strongly disagree” with the creation of three units, but would rather an option in east Kent be included.

The deadline for giving the NHS feedback is midnight tomorrow.

Their questionnaire can be found on the NHS consultation page.