Back in 2003, Dr Mo Sohail was living with his wife and three-year-old son in Dagenham, East London – a place he describes as “noisy, smelly, congested” and having “more cars than people”. But a spell of locum work in Kent opened his eyes to an alternative – a place blessed with fresh air, countryside and gorgeous beaches. What is more, he realised, Kent was somewhere they could settle as a family. In London, he and his wife, who is also a doctor, couldn’t have stretched to more than a two-bedroom flat – but in Margate they could raise their growing family in a spacious four-bedroom detached house. Now living in Broadstairs with their two teenage sons, Sohail says they “have never looked back”.
Lots of people who want to move out of London imagine that they need to move as far afield as Cornwall to get away from it all. But there’s no need: Kent, with its coastal towns such as Ramsgate, Folkestone and Whitstable, combines the benefits of the seaside with the vibrancy of the city. Helen Cooper, an assistant psychologist who left London for Margate two years ago, loves the town’s beautiful sandy beaches: “You can go swimming in the tidal swimming pool, watching the sun set, and then have a pint on the harbour arm. People do just go to the beach after work, and you can go for walks in the country too.”
NHS trusts and local authorities in Kent would like to attract more people like Sohail and Cooper, who have happily swapped the dirt and noise of London for the wide open spaces of Kent. Providers and commissioners have grouped together with the county council and Medway council to launch a campaign, Take a Different View, to showcase just what Kent has to offer. They are looking for people who can fill a wide range of roles in health and social care – nurses, doctors, midwives, social workers and therapists – and want people to know that Kent offers the opportunity for a quality of life that you’re unlikely to find anywhere else.
But it’s not all about beaches and long country walks. Unlike many rural areas, Kent, just an hour’s train journey from the capital, doesn’t feel cut off from the rest of the world. These days, its towns have the culture and lifestyle that city folk crave, with coffee bars, restaurants, pubs, nightclubs, art galleries and theatres. In recent years, Margate has seen an influx of artists and musicians opening their own studios. It’s a county steeped in history too, with numerous castles and ancient ruins. Canterbury is home to one of the country’s oldest cathedrals, with a rich archive of illustrated manuscripts and maps dating back to the eighth century.
Kent is also a terrific place to bring up children. Jo Treharne, head of marketing at Kent community health NHS foundation trust, points out that nursery care is much cheaper than in London, and the schools are excellent. Sohail’s two children have thrived at grammar school, and his elder son is about to leave for university to study dentistry. Child-friendly activities abound – as well as sandy beaches, the county is blessed with cycle paths, woodland walks, adventure playgrounds, museums and theme parks. For anyone who yearns for their child to enjoy the benefits of a life lived outdoors, Kent – one of the sunniest places in the country – has few competitors. And if you want your children to expand their cultural horizons, you can be in Paris in less than two hours on the Eurostar from Ashford International.
Quality of life is important, but it’s not the only thing you’ll be looking for when you apply for a job. Most of us want our working life to be fulfilling and challenging. How does Kent fare on that front?
Sohail is now a partner at the Bethesda medical practice in Margate. He says opportunities in Kent are very different from those in London, where the available roles are mostly for salaried GPs or locum work for large groups, managing three or four practices. Those jobs, he says, lack personal involvement or personal development, whereas his current role has kept him challenged and interested.
One of the big attractions of the area for health professionals, he says, is the degree of cooperation and integration, both between the different NHS trusts and between the NHS and social care. Take the Thanet acute response team, an innovative collaboration between local primary and secondary care trusts, the local authority and Age UK. The team has pioneered the Home First approach, which prioritises looking after vulnerable patients in their own homes when they suddenly fall ill, rather than rushing them into hospital. In Medway, health and social care teams work seamlessly together to facilitate early discharge from acute care back into the community.
The emphasis on cooperation is reflected in daily working life. Cooper, who works for a mental health trust, likes being part of a “friendly, cohesive team” that socialises outside of work, as well as being within Kent NHS’s “nurturing environment” that features generous flexible working opportunities and widespread onsite childcare. The variety of jobs on offer is also more diverse: the Kent and Medway area has five acute hospitals, and most major towns have a nurse-led community hospital, giving nurses the independence to use their clinical knowledge to help patients. A new medical school is planned for Canterbury and Chatham in 2020, adding to the possibilities for those wishing to engage in professional development.
People who come to Kent tend not to leave, says Treharne. Sohail agrees. After 15 years in the area, he has no regrets about leaving the congestion of London. “I love cycling, I love outdoors, I love walking – and in London, in Dagenham, you can’t do that. But here, you go five minutes in any direction and you’re in an open area and it’s lovely.”
