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PRESS RELEASE
HANDS OFF THE CONQUEST CAMPAIGN
MATERNITY DECISION ON HOLD
The Hastings campaign group are pleased that the Health Overview Scrutiny Committee decided last week to refer to the Secretary of State the decision of the Primary Care Trust that the Eastbourne community would lose their consultant led maternity unit together with their special care baby unit and emergency gynaecology.
(The HOSC statement can be found by clicking here)
Councillors decided by 9 votes to 3 that they were concerned with the longer travel times between the two hospitals, and therefore the safety of mums and babies. They decided that outcomes would not be improved and that there would be a reduction in choice for mums. The alternative two site options had not been looked into enough and significantly that their postbag was full from clinicians who agreed with the referral to the Secretary of State.
From the start of the campaign we have been highlighting these issues. To us it was just plain common sense. The state of our roads makes a one site option positively dangerous. During the campaign the Bexhill road has been closed off for periods of up to 4 hours. We have been proved right.
The campaigners and petitioners have never supported a single site, therefore it is a perverse suggestion that an Independent Review Panel would opt for a single site in Eastbourne. Exactly the same arguments apply to whichever community is denied its consultant led maternity unit.
It is sad that a few people voted for Option 4 (consultant led at Hastings) and that others had accepted the Primary Care Trust’s decision, because their position is, therefore, in agreement with Option 3 (consultant led at Eastbourne). There is no difference at all to the safety issues.
Therefore we would now urge everyone to back the two site option, and make your feelings known publicly. That is the only sure way to secure a consultant led service in Hastings and ensure a safe, reliable service for the whole of East Sussex’s future generations with neither community losing out.
Margaret Williams
Chair HOTC
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