Hospital wards close to save money

East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust said the move will save at least 200,000 over the next four months.

Bosses have been slammed for the move.

They claim it will improve patient care and efficiency.

The Trust is almost 4 million in debt and must clear 17 million in order to break even.

Greg Barker, Bexhill and Battle MP, dismissed the Trust's move as "shameful".

He said: "This is terrible news for the local community and a direct consequence of the Government's deliberate underfunding of the health economy of East Sussex.

"It is utterly shameful and I will be writing to the Secretary of State for Health.

"Here we are in the beginning of November and wards are being closed.

"We have an elderly population who are at additional risk during the winter months.

"If there is a normal flu outbreak let alone an avian flu outbreak, which is marching relentlessly towards this country, the Conquest simply will not be able to cope."

But Michael Foster, Hastings Labour MP, said: "The important thing to recognise is that this is a redistribution of resources, not a cutback.

"The hospital Trust has gone over budget and for efficient services to be maintained the management does have an obligation to make savings where possible.

"This year the local health economy received 10 million more than last year, an increase of nearly 10 per cent."

Kim Hodgson, chief executive of East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, said 30 beds would be lost.

She said the Blackwell ward, which looks after non-surgical patients, and the Mirlees ward, which specialises in in-patient gynaecology, would close until the end of next March.

Blackwell will shut on November 30.

Miss Hodgson added: "This is going to save us in the region of 200,000 between now and the end of March.

"The nurses are going to be redeployed within other wards and this will help improve the staffing levels on existing wards."

Cathy Stone, chief nurse for the Trust, said both wards were being closed to save money and because there had been an increase in day surgery cases, creating less demand on beds.

She said: "More than 70 per cent of our gynaenocology cases are undertaken at our Richard Ticehurst unit on a day case basis."

Mrs Stone said both wards would be opened if there was a major incident such as a flu pandemic.