Threat to maternity services - latest

A worse case scenario could see expectant mums having to travel all the way to Eastbourne to give birth.

The concerns were raised when a public meeting took place at Rye's Thomas Peacocke College on Wednesday.

Doctors and health bosses outlined the proposals to merge maternity services at Eastbourne and Hastings, saying it would result in better and safer care.

But transport and distance remained major concerns for those at the meeting.

One local mum whose three-month-old daughter was born after an emergency caesarean at the Conquest Hospital, said: "I could not think of anything worse than having to go as far as Eastbourne for an emergency like this."

Resident Peter Dyce said: "Concern over distances seems to be totally under-estimated and brushed aside by the PCT. They talk about safety but what about the risk to a patient trundled all the way from Camber to Eastbourne in horrific traffic conditions?"

Ron Sunderland, chairman of Rother Seniors, said: "A lot of people are very concerned.

"There is a shortage of midwives and if the PCT cannot be sure it can move existing staff then it will have a real problem. I can't see all of them wanting to move."

Lynne Regent, from the NHS, said: "We have been meeting with midwives to ensure their views are heard."

Margaret Williams, from the Campaign to Save the Conquest, said: "All the options have involved downgrading or closing one of our maternity units.

"Both the units at the Conquest and Eastbourne are safe and have the highest rating - only 20 per cent of units in the UK have that.

"Giving birth is the only time you can have a perfectly healthy woman one minute and a dead one the next. There have been disasters elsewhere in the country when they have merged two small units into a big one.

"How is it choice if you are taking a service away and making people travel 20 to 30 miles?

"Once you lose one core service in a hospital you will lose others - it is a domino effect. Core emergency services at Hastings and Eastbourne mean the difference between life and death."

The PCT also came under fire from Northiam-based GP Dr John Carroll who said: "The PCT's track record is not very good. People currently have to be assessed in Eastbourne before they can have an operation in Hastings. If the PCT is serious about times, why doesn't it quote the times for off-peak deliveries when patients travel by private car. The ambulance service is already stretched to the limit."

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