Fears have been raised about the future of a hospital's maternity services.
The subject was discussed at a meeting organised by the independent Patient and Public Involvement Forum for Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.
The maternity unit at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath is a consultant-led service and the trust says this can only be maintained if it is able to appoint specialist nurse practitioners to help run it.
If it cannot get the staff, the unit will become a midwife-led one and serious cases will be transferred to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.
The trust says it is pulling out all the stops to recruit the staff but if it is unsuccessful then contingency plans would have to be made this autumn.
Other subjects brought up at Tuesday's meeting included the changes to accident and emergency services at the Princess Royal. Seriously injured patients needing emergency surgery now have to go straight to the Royal Sussex instead.
People at the meeting said the move put ambulance staff under pressure but the trust says the changes are working to plan and the number of patients affected was as expected.
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