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Eastbourne Herald Opinion - 14 September 2007
The letter sent in this week, signed by the town's GPs, opposing the possible downgrading of maternity services must surely be a decisive contribution as the NHS moves towards its final deliberations on the issue.
The Primary Care Trusts in East Sussex have already been given a clear message from the people of Eastbourne and Hastings that the towns both need to retain consultant-led maternity provision to protect the safety of mothers and babies.
That message has now been emphatically supported by those doctors in Eastbourne whose role makes them better qualified to understand the needs and concerns of patients than anyone else.
In fact, they go further than simply sounding a rallying call for maternity, and underline the need to protect core services in general at our hospital if the community is to be properly served.
The PCTs could hardly have a clearer view of local opinion, expert and lay. If consultation is to be anything other than meaningless, they must accept that Option Five - continuing consultant-led maternity provision at both the DGH and Conquest hospitals is the route to follow.
Failure to do so will simply confirm the suspicions of many that the whole process has been a screen and that policy decisions about hospital provision are being dictated from central government.
Source: Eastbourne Herald, 14th Sep 07
Click here to read the letter in full
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