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This is the text of a letter sent by the LMC (Local Medical Committee), the only body that represents 600 GPs in the area. The only reason they don't support Option 5 is because it isn't official or assessed yet:
“East Sussex LMC Response to “Fit for the Future”
East Sussex LMC welcomes the opportunity to respond to, and be consulted on, the document “Creating an NHS Fit for the Future” published jointly by Hastings and Rother PCT and East Sussex Downs and Weald PCT. The Committee has been able to discuss the document, including Option 5, at its meetings in April and June 2007.
In responding to the specific issues raised by the consultation document, the LMC would also like to comment on some of the other issues it deals with.
1.Our changing health service
The LMC recognises that there have been, and wilt continue to be, significant changes in the ways in which health care is provided. Indeed, General Practitioners have frequently been not only the Leaders of many health care changes both locally and nationally but also the pioneers. GPs recognise the need for continued change that will benefit their patients but are equally clear that the implementation of change must only be after full and proper consultation with clinicians (where appropriate) that changes must be evidence based and that where there is an impact on the workload of general practice, changes must be fully and properly resourced.
Care, can and should be offered, closer to the patient’s home, but in making such a change patient safety and the quality of the service are of paramount importance. It is essential that when services are offered in the community all appropriate support must be available to ensure that patients’ safety is not compromised and that the service is of the highest quality.
2.What this means for East Sussex
General Practitioners share much of the vision of the two primary care trusts detailed in this section, but recognise that this wilt only be achieved by consultation with the profession and appropriate investment in the infrastructure of primary care.
3. What you told us
It is clear from discussions with GPs that there is great support for the district general hospitals in both Hastings and Eastbourne, which are equally valued by patients.
As with many other groups the LMC has concerns about the genuineness of the consultation process. There has been a strong feeling for some time that decisions have already been made and that this consultation is simply paying lip service to the process.
4. Where are we now?
The LMC is pleased to read that primary care services in Hastings and St. Leonards and Peacehaven will be strengthened by the development of three new primary care centres and believes that greater investment in both premises and personnel is crucial in transferring work to general practices.
5. Improving childbirth and special baby care services
East Sussex LMC held lengthy discussions about the proposals for the reconfiguration of maternity services as detailed in the consultation document. Each of the options (including option five) was debated in detail.
In making its decision the Committee put patients’ safety and the provision of high quality services as its overriding priorities and considered alt the options in these terms. The Committee was disappointed to note that document provided virtually no details as to how safety and quality of service would be achieved. Indeed the summary table detailing “pros and cons” of options 1-4 makes no mention of either safety or quality of service, listing only reliability and access as being of importance.
The Committee also noticed that consultant colleagues at Eastbourne District General Hospital and the Conquest highlighted the need to assess risks involved in the transfer between units of pregnant women and women in labour and this should be done using real data. Also highlighted by the consultants and of particular relevance to general practitioners, is the failure of the consultation document to address the possibility of an increase in home births as a potential consequence of maternity service reconfiguration. Any increase in home births would need to be serviced by an expansion not only of the community midwives service but also the necessary support services.
Conclusion
East Sussex LMC, having carefully considered the proposals, does not feet able to support any of the options outlined in the consultation document, nor does it feel able to support Option 5. A motion to this effect was unanimously passed at the LMC meeting on June 29th 2007.
The Committee also recommended that there should be an urgent review of the safety implications of the proposals and that this detailed information should be made available to the public to inform their decision about the future of maternity services in East Sussex.”
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