Local News

Feedback is being encouraged from patients, their families, carers and members of the public in Medway and Swale, about a proposal to extend visiting times in adult wards at Medway Maritime Hospital.

To make it easier for families, carers and visitors to spend time with patients while they are in hospital, Medway NHS Foundation Trust, which operates the hospital, is planning to extend visiting hours from 8am to 8pm across most inpatient areas (most adult wards are currently 1pm to 8pm).

There will continue to be flexible arrangements in some specialist areas, such as Maternity, Intensive Care Unit, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Paediatrics (children's’ wards), to reflect the needs of the patients. Special arrangements are also made, and will continue to be made, for any patients receiving End of Life care.

Sarah Vaux, Interim Chief Nursing Officer for the Trust, tld SFM News: “We know that being around family, friends and their own carers helps our patients recover more quickly, by supporting their personal care, encouraging them to get up out of bed and dressed and generally providing company and familiar faces, which boosts wellbeing. We believe extending visiting hours in this way will offer families more flexibility and ultimately improve the hospital experience for everyone involved.”

A short survey is now open to find out what people from Medway and Swale think of the plans. The survey takes less than five minutes to complete and closes on Sunday 23rd February 2025. You can find it here.

All feedback will be considered by the Trust before a final decision is made in March.

Sittingbourne have just beaten Southend United to reach the FA Trophy quarter-finals.

The Brickies won 1-0 at Roots Hall away to Southend, thanks to an added-time debut goal by new signing Anthony Church in the 97th minute.

Boss Ryan Maxwell, a former Chelsea youth player, who went on to appear for 27 clubs in four different countries before spells as manager at Walthamstow and Braintree, told SFM News: "It's brilliant, amazing, incredible - I'm so full of pride in my players. My style is certainly very demanding. I believe we can beat anyone as long as you sign the right players and give them the right instructions. I wasn't coming here just to take part and be part of their entertainment, that's not my style. If I'm paid to do a job, like I am here, I'm coming here to win".

Full match report to follow.

More cameras have been added to Swale Borough Council’s CCTV network to help tackle crime and keep people safe. 

Six cameras have been installed in Sittingbourne and Sheerness town centres, bolstering the existing network of more than 300 cameras across the borough already being monitored 24/7 by the council’s CCTV control room. 

An additional three rapid deployment cameras, which are mobile and can be installed in the event of an emergency or in locations that see a spike in crime, have also been purchased.  

This is the second set of cameras brought in as part of the council’s Safer Street project, which aims to tackle antisocial behaviour and violence against women and girls bringing the total up to 18. The council say "these cameras act as a visual deterrent against anti-social behaviour, gathers evidence which helps the council and police catch and prosecute offenders, and allows the control room to radio in any incidents caught on camera to first responders through Swale Link". 

The council’s Safer Streets project is coming to an end in March, but over the past two years the initiative has implemented many measures to help people feel safer in the town centres, such as: 

• funding youth programmes such as Vibe's Sheerness Youth Club 
• offering free active bystander training and “train the trainer” events 
• educational workshops at a local secondary school focusing on subjects such as anti-social behaviour, drugs, alcohol, knife crime and vaping 
• working in partnership with Sheppey Matters to help fund community engagement events, such as the community gardening 
• improving the lighting of public spaces and target hardening 
• street marshals to patrol the high streets 
• teaming up with domestic abuse charities to give out a personal safety app to vulnerable women 
• providing crime prevention merchandise such as personal alarms and cup and bottle covers 
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Cllr Richard Palmer, chair of the Community and Leisure Committee at Swale Borough Council, told SFM News: “Our CCTV control room works incredibly hard to monitor the borough’s cameras day and night and have had success helping the police stop, catch and prosecute people committing crimes or nuisance in towns across the borough. It is the communication between our officers and Kent Police that makes this network of cameras so effective, and is why adding these additional resources, paid for by our Safer Streets campaign, will help keep people safe. One of the reasons it has so helpful in stopping crime and making sure people get the help they need is because the control room show first responders live footage from the cameras allowing them to respond immediately, once they arrive to the scene.” 

Cllr Elliott Jayes, vice chair of the council's Community and Leisure Committee, told SFM News: “Our Safer Streets project may be coming to an end soon, but I know it has had a real, impactful and positive affect on the safety of these two Town Centres.  It wasn’t only interventions like these cameras and the street marshals that helped keep people safe, it is the educational programmes - working with schools and teaching people to be active bystanders - that will keep having a positive affect long after this project ends. Of course, we would have loved to implement these measures across the borough but the funding guidelines from central government were very restrictive.  We are always looking for other funding opportunities that will allow us to continue our work to keep our residents safe.” 

The council - through the Community Safety Partnership - have worked with the Kent Police and Crime Commissioner to secure the funding needed for the campaign from the Government’s Safer Streets Fund. 

A dispersal order will be in place at the weekend as part of the latest enforcement action to tackle antisocial behaviour in Sittingbourne.

The town centre order will operate between from 3pm tomorrow (Friday 24th January) until 3pm on Sunday (26th January).

It will encompass all open spaces, alleyways, footpaths and grassed areas in and near the High Street, retail park, train station and recreation ground. Designated roads include Avenue of Remembrance, Bell Road, Crown Quay Lane, Eurolink Way, Mill Way, St Paul's Street, Chalkwell Road, London Road, West Street and Park Road.

Inspector Julia Bassindale told SFM News: "We are always listening to concerns raised by residents and businesses and our officers are continuing to pay close attention to issues linked to the High Street and retail park, where in recent weeks there have been reports of disorder, abuse and threatening behaviour towards shop staff and members of the public. The areas in this dispersal order are already regularly patrolled every day of the week, and we are proactive with our partners operating CCTV cameras to help identify those seeking to cause problems. Anyone causing a nuisance and instructed to move on can be arrested if they return to the area".

Insp Bassindale went on to add: "Whilst dispersal orders are only a temporary measure, I would like to also reassure residents there is also a great deal of other work ongoing to tackle antisocial behaviour in Sittingbourne. This includes officers working closely with youth organisations and schools and we also visit the homes of young offenders to issue warning notices and encourage parents to take a proactive role in supporting the police."