With reference to the article about ambulances queuing for A&E (The Argus, January 6), I have to say, Duncan Jones, chairman of the Sussex Ambulance branch of Unison, and the (unnamed) spokeswoman for the Sussex Ambulance Trust are quite right.

By the same token, Gary Walker, the chief executive of Surrey and Sussex Primary Healthcare Trust,is quite wrong about the current situation at East Surrey Hospital.

The truth is, on several occasions, rows of ambulances have been lined up at Redhill - as has been confirmed by photographs in local newspapers in Crawley.

As chaplain to Crawley, East Grinstead and Horsham ambulance stations, I am only too aware of the frustrations the front-line crews endure - and not occasionally but regularly.

Indeed, when accompanying a crew last year involved in a handover at the hospital, which took some considerable time, I witnessed first-hand how the crew was unable to get away to attend a serious maternity call in Crawley, where the midwife had called for an ambulance.

Fortunately, and despite the delay, that particular incident was satisfactorily resolved - although it could have been a close call.

The reality is the closure of Crawley Hospital's A&E department has been an unmitigated disaster and the consequences are being felt across the north of the county.

With the downgrading of the emergency department at Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, the people of Mid Sussex are being similarly adversely affected.

Gary Walker's claim, which implies everything works well, is simply not borne out by the facts.

-Rev Francis Pole, chaplain, Crawley Workplace Ministry, Crawley