Eastbourne residents invited to meeting about major changes to the DGH

The meeting will take place on January 17 between 12.30pm and 2.30pm. It will be the first public meeting to be held as part of a 14-week public consultation on the proposals which closes on March 11.

The two separate sets of proposals have been developed over the last year by hospital doctors, GPs and other health professionals, and were informed by feedback from people who use and work in local services.

Both sets of proposals are targeted to improve quality of care, reduce waiting times, and enable local residents to benefit from new technology, said an NHS spokesperson.

For cardiology, clinicians plan to create new cardiac response teams at the emergency departments at the DGH and Conquest Hospital, and to concentrate the most highly-specialised cardiac services at one or other of the hospital sites.

For ophthalmology, clinicians propose to consolidate the current services provided at Eastbourne District General Hospital, Bexhill Hospital and Conquest Hospital into two sites at Eastbourne District General Hospital and Bexhill Hospital.

Dr David Warden, clinical chair of the Governing Body for NHS East Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said, “We are keen to hear from as many local people as possible about their views on our proposals, which we believe will improve the care we provide to our communities.

“It will also increase support for our doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals to develop and deliver the very best services.

“We are planning more public meetings in the coming weeks so we will be sharing new dates and other ways to get involved soon.”

To book a place, residents will need to register for a free ticket.

Those who are unable to attend the online public meetings can still give their feedback on the consultations in a number of ways. All the details can be found on the Sussex Health and Care website.