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Podcast: Cafe at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford closed off to make room for patients in makeshift ward

21 minutes | Thursday, 18 September 2025

Pictures have emerged of a cafe in the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford that's been turned into a makeshift ward.Health campaigners have described it as humiliating, with the main seating area blocked off by screens and patients wheeled in on beds. It's as the hospital continues to struggled with demand.Also in today's podcast, we're being encouraged to sleep rough for a night to experience what it's like for the 194 people in Kent who're currently on the streets.Canterbury based charity Porchlight are trying to raise awareness as winter and the bad weather approaches.Hear from a Kent councillor who's defected to a different political party.David Knight has left the Tunbridge Wells Alliance and joined the Conservatives, saying he wants to work with a party that can deliver across the whole borough and wider Weald.A mum from Deal has joined a celebrity-backed campaign to make bedtime stories accessible for blind and partially sighted children.Bedtime Donations allows parents to record themselves reading a story through an app - it's then added to an online library which can be accessed by anyone.Alison Steadman, Jon Richardson and Ralf Little are among those who've taken part.And, researchers at the University of Kent have shown it could be possible to grow tea on the Moon.Scientists planted saplings in soil similar to that found on the lunar surface, and we're told they flourished. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Podcast: Cafe at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford closed off to make room for patients in makeshift ward
KentOnline

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