More meetings to be held over potential hospital changes in East Sussex

Hospital campaigners in Eastbourne had said they were seeking answers over the proposed concentration of highly specialist cardiology services in the county.

The meetings, which will be held in February and March, will allow people to find out more and have their say.

These will be the final meetings as part of a 14-week public consultation on the proposals, which closes on Friday, March 11.

An online event will take place on February 21 between 12.30pm–2pm while face-to-face meetings are planned between 1pm–3.30pm on March 1 and 7.

The meeting on March 1 is in Hampden Park Community Centre, Brodrick Road, Eastbourne.

The March 7 meeting is in Four Courts Community Centre, Sydney Road, St Leonards-on-Sea.

Residents are urged to book their free place for the online event.

Despite being able to book if they prefer, residents have been told they can just show up to the face-to-face meetings.

According to the NHS, the face-to-face events will be subject to the latest government advice on social distancing to keep members of the public and staff safe.

An NHS spokesperson said, “The two separate sets of proposals have been developed over the last year by hospital doctors, GPs and other health professionals, and were informed by feedback from people who use and work in local services.

“Both sets of proposals aim to: Improve the quality of care for all those who need it, cut waiting times and reduce how long people have to spend in hospital, reduce the number of times people need to visit for appointments or tests, support staff to develop their skills and experience, provide a more efficient use of local health service resources and enable local people to benefit from new medical and technological advances.”

Dr David Warden, clinical chair of the governing body for NHS East Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said, “We have had a great response so far and have already heard from hundreds of people and communities across East Sussex. However, we want to make sure that as many people have the opportunity to take part as possible and these events are a great way to share experiences, ideas and feedback with our teams.”

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