Three new mental health emergency departments coming to Kent hospitals
Ashford, Gillingham and Margate are among 59 sites across England set to receive dedicated mental health emergency departments under a £343 million Government programme.
People in mental health crisis across Kent will soon have somewhere to go that isn’t a packed A&E waiting room. The Government has confirmed three new Mental Health Emergency Departments — MHEDs — for the county, at William Harvey Hospital in Ashford, Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, and the Thanet Mental Health Unit next to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate.
The units are designed for people who are medically stable but need same-day specialist assessment. Not a standard A&E triage. A calmer, purpose-built space, staffed by people trained specifically in mental health crisis care, from which patients can be directed into inpatient units, community services, or support at home.
Kent’s three sites form part of a national rollout of 59 such departments across England, backed by £343 million in Government funding — roughly what it costs to build six new secondary schools. No Kent-specific capital figure has been confirmed.
Opening dates remain vague. The national programme has sites beginning to open from autumn 2024, with more due by March 2027. But NHS Kent and Medway and East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust haven’t confirmed exactly when Ashford, Gillingham or Margate will be ready.
Ashford does have something of a head start. William Harvey Hospital already received around £15 million as part of a £30 million emergency department expansion shared with QEQM in Margate, which included dedicated mental health areas. The Ashford Safe Haven also runs from the same site every evening — 6.30pm to 11.30pm, seven days a week, bank holidays included — run by the charity Mental Health Matters and commissioned by NHS Kent and Medway. The new MHED will sit alongside those existing services, rather than replace them.
Kent and Medway currently has two Crisis Recovery Houses, one in Ashford and one in Medway, each offering five beds for adults whose crisis doesn’t require hospital admission but makes staying at home unsafe. The MHEDs are intended to connect people more directly into that wider network.
The three sites cover a broad sweep of the county. Rural Kent is another matter — residents in more remote areas may still face a considerable journey to reach any of them.
Key information
- Mental health crisis support now: call NHS 111 and press 2 for the mental health option, or dial 999 if there is immediate risk to life
- Ashford Safe Haven at William Harvey Hospital: open 6.30pm–11.30pm every day including bank holidays, free for adults aged 18 and over
- Crisis Recovery Houses in Ashford and Medway offer short-term support for adults in crisis who don’t need inpatient admission
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Source: @sojanuk
Published: 6 August 2026