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Community Health Services: Rochester and Strood

Asked by Lauren EdwardsLabourDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled Answered 14 April 2026UIN 908658

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve access to community-based healthcare in Rochester and Strood constituency.

Answered by Stephen Kinnock

This government has made clear that one of the essential shifts to get the NHS back on its feet is from hospital to community. Our ambitions for neighbourhood health are one key area to enable this essential shift. Neighbourhood Health will improve access, by providing more joined up and personalised care closer to where people live.
NHS Kent Community Care NHS Foundation Trust is one of 43 trailblazers and patients across Rochester and Strood are benefiting from diagnostic tests in the community at Medway Community Diagnostics Centre. We have committed to strengthening community health services through the Medium Term Planning Framework and this will be a key to delivering our ambitions for neighbourhood health and shifting more care from hospitals to the community.

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