East Sussex maternity units under long-term review (From The Argus)

East Sussex maternity units under long-term review

5:40pm Saturday 13th March 2010 in

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A watchdog will keep an eye on long-term plans for maternity services.

Primary care trusts (PCTs) in East Sussex have drawn up proposals to keep full consultant-led maternity departments at Eastbourne District General Hospital (DGH) and the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards. They also include providing more community services for pregnant women who prefer not to go into hospital.

East Sussex health overview and scrutiny committee members will be given six-monthly updates on the proposals as the three-year plan is put into force.

PCT bosses were forced to come up with a new strategy after the Department of Health ordered them to abandon proposals to downgrade the consultant-led maternity unit at the DGH.

The department agreed with campaigners who said pregnant women could be put at risk if they had to travel to the Conquest or the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton for urgent treatment.