FULL matenrity services are to be retained at both the Conquest and the DGH.
The Independent Reconfiguration Panel which investigated plans to centralise consultant-led maternity at the Conquest Hospital, Hastings has recommended that consultant-led maternity, special care baby services and in-patient gynaecology must be reta
ined in both Eastbourne and Hastings.
Eastbourne MP Nigel Waterson, who has led the campaign to Save the DGH since its inception, warmly welcomed the decision..
He said the Secretary of State, Alan Johnson, had written to him to say he accepted the panel's recommendations in full.
The panel rejected the PCT's proposals on the basis they had not made a clear case for safer and more sustainable services.
Mr Waterson said, "This is an amazing result for people power. Local people were convinced that these proposals posed risks to babies and mothers and they have supported our campaign magnificently. They have marched, signed our petition and contributed generously to the legal challenge. I could not be prouder of my constituents.
"I trust the local PCT will now accept these findings, and proceed to obey the Secretary of State's requirement that they produce a new plan for maternity in East Sussex within a month. They must now ensure full services remain on both sites. Nothing less will do."
This decisions is a shock turnaround, and clearly puts into question the whole PCT, and how it arrived at its original decision.
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