MP SLAMS PCT RECOMMENDATION

Local MP Nigel Waterson has hit out at the recommendation of NHS bosses that there should be a single maternity unit in Hastings, with a midwife-led unit only at Eastbourne DGH. The decision is to be made by a joint board committee on 20 December.

Nigel said: “This is a shock but not a surprise. The NHS bureaucrats have long pushed for a downgrade of maternity at the DGH. Indeed, over a year ago, the Medical Director Dr. David Scott announced on TV that a ‘single site solution’ is what would happen.”

“This is far from the end of our battle. Local residents are now relying on the non-executive directors on the PCT’s to speak up for the needs of local people. And if they cannot support maternity on two sites, they should decline to make a decision. Anything else would be a gross betrayal of the local community.”

“Health ministers would like to portray this as a local decision; they should be forced to take the final decision, and be willing to try to justify it.”

13 December 2007