Include full maternity services in new Eastbourne hospital

Liz Walke at the Save the DGH protest march around the hospital on September 7th 2013 E37135P ENGSUS00120130909085208

The decision to suspend home births and births at Eastbourne’s stand alone MLU (Midwife Led Unit) is a slap in the face for all the midwives who have worked so hard to provide these services.

If we still had full maternity services, pregnant women from Eastbourne, Hailsham, Polegate, and many other surrounding towns and villages would still have been able to give birth at the DGH.

This situation proves how much we need full maternity services back at Eastbourne DGH as soon as possible.

With the government promising a “new hospital” in Eastbourne can we suggest, even demand that full maternity (and paediatric) services will be provided in any planning or development and includes service reconfiguration not just of maternity services.

Surely, service reconfiguration has to be part of any long-term planning that seeks to meet the future demands of a growing population.

It is our view that reconfiguration should be considered, and not only around where there are current safety issues with the maternity service provided at Eastbourne. We must remain focused on developing a future-proof and state-of-the-art facility for the mid 21st century, not only for Eastbourne residents but all residents who use Eastbourne DGH.

On behalf of local people, we have campaigned 14 years for essential core services to be provided at Eastbourne DGH, and our position has not changed, nor the public support for us.

So now in the middle of the worst health crisis in our country please could East Sussex Healthcare Trust acknowledge that safety of patients must be the highest priority and that our new hospital in Eastbourne will provide all the core services so that when a crisis happens, people will not be putting themselves at further risk going against government advice travelling out of area for services which should be provided locally.

Our definition: core services include 24 hour A&E full service, 24 hour in-patient paediatric beds, 24 hour consultant- led obstetric service, 24 hour acute medical admissions, 24 hour acute surgical, ITU and HDU beds and any pathology and radiological services essential for the core services to be able to function.