CAMPAIGNERS fighting controversial changes made to hospital maternity and children's services are stepping up their legal fight against them.

The Save the District General Hospital (DGH) group intends to challenge a decision by East Sussex County Council's health overview and scrutiny committee which allowed the changes to go through unopposed.

The committee's decision earlier this year meant a temporary shake-up introduced in 2013 and supported by the county's clinical commissioning groups, was made permanent.

Eastbourne District General Hospital now has a midwife-run maternity service while consultant-run maternity services, plus children’s inpatient facilities, are at Conquest Hospital in St Leonards.

Consultant units had previously been based at both hospitals but Eastbourne was temporarily downgraded because of safety fears caused by problems in recruiting staff.

Health bosses said the move was necessary to ensure the future and safety of the services.

However campaigners say the changes are endangering lives as women with high-risk pregnancies are facing longer journeys when in labour.

In an unprecedented move, the campaign group has written to the chief executive of East Sussex County Council, Becky Shaw, stating its intent to seek legal advice on how to challenge the decision.

Save the DGH member Liz Walke said: “There has never been a legal challenge to a decision made by a health overview and scrutiny committee before.

“We are not sure what form the challenge will be until we have spoken with our legal team but we want to explore all the possible options.

“We feel we owe it to the people of East Sussex to go down every single avenue we can to get full services reinstated at Eastbourne.

“What we would like to see is an independent inquiry into the decision. This is what happened before when similar changes were planned in 2008 and that inquiry led to the changes being overturned.

“There is nothing happening today that is any different to what was happening then, so it is vital another inquiry is held.

“We have already seen a case where a baby was born in the back of an ambulance on the way to St Leonards.

“The child had the umbilical cord around their neck and if the father had been driving or the parents had caught a cab, there is a good chance that child would have died.”

Mrs Walke handed the letter in to the council ahead of a health scrutiny committee being held at the county hall in Lewes yesterday.