THE two new heads of a struggling NHS Trust have pledged to work closely with campaigners to boost staff morale and improve key services.

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust – which includes Eastbourne District General and the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards – was placed in special measures last September.

The Care Quality Commission inspected the Trust in September 2014, when both hospitals were rated inadequate. A team of inspectors followed this up with a further unannounced inspection in March 2015 and the judgement was again inadequate with the trust then going being placed in special measures.

Now there is a new chief executive at the helm, Dr Adrian Bull, and a new chairman of the trust, David Clayton Smith, both of whom have vast experience in the NHS.

They have pledged to work together with the Save the DGH Group, which celebrates its tenth birthday this year, and already they have held three key meetings.

Dr Bull and other Trust executives met with the group and Mr Clayton Smith held a separate meeting with them.

Dr Bull also joined Eastbourne MP Caroline Ansell at her monthly surgery in the Eastbourne Arndale Centre.

Dr Bull said: "We had very constructive discussions with the campaign group about the challenges we face in the local healthcare system and the aspirations of local people.

"In the discussions there was a commitment to a shared aim of excellent healthcare for the people of East Sussex. We have agreed to work together with the campaign group, in a positive spirit of co-operation, to engage with local people to listen and understand their views.’

A joint statement from the trust and the Save the DGH Group said: "The meetings were hugely constructive around discussions about how both we could work together in a new spirit of co-operation for the benefit of local people.

"We recognise that people want services to be as local and accessible as possible, while appreciating that some services need to be centralised to be safe and financially sustainable. We both understand and recognise the difficulties of travel between Hastings and Eastbourne.

"We will continue to work together to find solutions which satisfy both requirements as far as possible. We agree that a priority is to restore confidence in the hospitals’ dedicated staff and the excellent services being offered at both the Eastbourne DGH and the Conquest Hospital."

MP Caroline Ansell said she was delighted that Dr Bull had joined her at her surgery.

She said: "Many local people took the opportunity to raise concerns, share their experiences and wish him well in the task ahead.

"Alongside clinical improvements and a new culture where staff are empowered not bullied, it’s also vital that we rebuild public trust and confidence in our hospital in the wake of the damaging inspection report of 2015.

"Adrian standing with me in the throng of a busy Arndale Centre was a very positive, very new way of engaging and it shows that there is a new person at the helm and one who is prepared to listen and I welcome that.

"I will be continuing my ward by ward visits through the spring and look forward to working with Adrian to see the trust emerge much improved."