Tempers flare at crucial hospital meeting

Just over 150 people were at the Alexandra Theatre to fire questions at a panel of health bosses on Wednesday night, leaving many seats empty.

And those that did attend were left frustrated with the answers they received and jeers filled the room as the meeting came to a close.

During the meeting, hospital supporters aired their views to the PCT, which has proposed the controversial Fit For The Future shake-up of health services in West Sussex.

Just three options have been put forward, one of which will see the much-loved Chichester hospital downgraded, losing its Accident and Emergency department.

At the meeting Andrew Foulkes, of the West Sussex PCT, explained why the shake-up was planned.

He said: "We know that more services need to be provided and we know that in West Sussex as a whole we do not provide the right level of community services.

"We need to make sure we use our resources more effectively."

And members of the public were told that changes had to be made to accommodate advances in medicine which would not be sustainable at the hospitals in Chichester and Worthing in their current state.

However MP for Bognor and Littlehampton, Nick Gibb, expressed concerns that in four or five years a similar shake up will happen again and services could be centralised to larger hospitals as far away as Southampton.

He was also worried that increased travel times would put a strain on the emergency services.

He said: "We are a wealthy country, but will it come to a point where we are told that one super hospital in Birmingham can serve the south because of medical advances by 2040?

"There has to be a balance between travel times and the quality of the hospital.

"We can't be forced to travel to Southampton just because medical services advance, it's just not acceptable."

As the meeting drew to a close protesters vented their anger at the panels reluctance to stay longer and take further questions by jeering as the health chiefs summed up.