HOSPITAL CAMPAIGN: Hospital downgrade will take it back 30 years

Leading consultants have said that three decades of progress will be lost at the Chichester hospital if it is reduced to a local general hospital with no specialist emergency, surgical, children's or maternity services.

"If the decision goes against Chichester, we will be going back to the sort of hospital we had here in 1978 where we were shifting all major acute cases out to other hospitals," said David Allen who is a general and vascular surgeon at St Richard's Hospital.

The surgeon worked as a houseman at the Chichester hospital in 1978, returning to St Richard's first as a registrar in 1985, and a consultant in 1991.

He told the Observer he has seen St Richard's Hospital grow and its services expand over the past 30 years with a full complement of A&E, x-ray and anesthetist consultants among the hospital's staff.

But he warned if the hospital is downgraded, it would be a step back to the 1970s.

"Back in 1978, St Richard's was a small hospital with just four consultant surgeons and we were able to deal with minor conditions, but all major conditions had to be taken to another hospital.

"I remember sitting in an ambulance with a patient travelling on the old A27 and, unfortunately, a number of people did not get there in time.

"Now we can deal with all sorts of emergencies at St Richard's and, if the decision does not go our way, we will go back to the St Richard's we had 30 years ago."

Mr Allen said that while many clinicians accepted some specialist services needed to be centralised, with Brighton also set to have its services beefed up, it is essential they are centralised at a location which is easy to access.

"We cannot have a situation where all the services are centralised to the eastern side of the county, leaving people on the rural western side to make long journeys to access emergency care," he said.

Appendicitis, broken hips, gall bladder, perforated bowel, aneurysm and ectopic pregnancy '“ just some of the shopping list of conditions which St Richard's will be unable to deal with if it is downgraded.

Chairman of the Support St Richard's campaign, Andrew Tyrie, said: "We must keep our full A&E."

What won't the A&E be able to do?

Hospital campaigners have said that while bosses at the West Sussex PCT are telling the public that A&Es have been 'saved', it will in fact be little more than a minor injuries unit because it will not have the back-up facilities of a major hospital.

Abigail Rowe from the Support St Richard's campaign added: "The PCT has told people A&E is safe at the three hospitals '“ but this is not true.

"It is not too late to make your voice heard and we now have to pull out all the stops to make sure the PCT does not downgrade St Richard's."