The publication of a damning report into services provided at hospitals in East Sussex has made for pretty grim reading, despite assurances from managers that improvements are already being made. Health reporter SIOBHAN RYAN looks back at the recent troubled history of the county's hospitals and asks whether today's problems are a legacy of what went wrong in the past.

Inspectors from the Care Quality Commission were unimpressed when they carried out routine visits at Eastbourne District General Hospital and the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards in February.

They discovered staff morale was low, there were not enough workers available to cover maternity and accident and emergency departments and the standards of care for patients was slipping.

The problems they found were so serious, they contacted East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust chief executive Darren Grayson to tell him immediate action needed to be taken.

So why is it East Sussex that is hitting the headlines?

Part of the issue is historical.

When Mr Grayson took up his post a year ago, he inherited a trust where staff morale was at rock bottom, there were problems around recruitment and finances were spiralling out of control.

The previous chief executive, Kim Hodgson, had left with a golden handshake of a year’s salary while staff were being told the cost of parking at the hospital where they worked was going up without proper consultation.

The car parking problem was resolved but, a year on, morale is still bad.

The problems have been made worse by the continuing uncertainty over the future of maternity services at the trust.

Earlier this month, Mr Grayson announced there would be a review of the services provided at the consultant-led units in Eastbourne and St Leonards. He said the issue was down to not having enough middle grade doctors available to provide cover, and senior doctors had expressed concern about the long-term safety of the unit.

Mr Grayson said: “I can’t ignore those concerns and so that is why I have ordered an independent review.

“I know it creates uncertainty, but I have to take a long-term view on this and patient safety is paramount.”

Campaigners who previously won a fight to stop the maternity unit at Eastbourne from being downgraded, believe the answer is to recruit more senior doctors instead.

However, while the review goes on, staff remain uncertain.

GMB union organiser for East Sussex, Rachel Verdin, said: “Our reps are saying their case load has been growing over the past few months.

“Staff are under a lot of pressure because of cutbacks and are tired and stressed.

“I am disappointed by what the inspectors found, but I am not surprised.”

Mr Grayson says work to improve standards has already been going on over the last 12 months.

He said the inspectors were worried about the barriers and screening at the Eastbourne A&E department, which compromised the privacy and dignity of patients.

It meant passers-by were able to see patients in cubicles in various states of undress, or see a shrouded body waiting to be taken to the morgue. However, building and refurbishment work to tackle these areas has just been completed.

Mr Grayson said: “This was an issue which was already picked up last year and was being dealt with, as was the issue of recruitment.

“We have just recently employed 70 new members of staff.

“We do have a problem with doctors and are relying on locums, who can be difficult to find and expensive.”

But there are growing calls for immediate signs of improvement.

Lewes MP, Norman Baker, whose constituency includes Newhaven and Seaford, said: “There is no getting away from the damming nature of the report, and drastic steps need to be taken to address the commission’s concerns immediately.

“What is also apparent is that almost all the positive comments listed in the report refer to the face-to-face interaction between frontline staff and patients, and I am supportive of the fact it seems frontline staff are trying their utmost to ensure a good service is provided.

“The concern, therefore, is whether, overall, they are getting the support they need from the trust’s management.”

It should be remembered East Sussex is not alone in all of this.

Other hospital trusts have also had long battles to get their finances and staffing under control, and it may be Mr Grayson just needs a bit more time.

It took Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust three years to get the trust back on track financially and performing well.

Yet it has also struggle with recruitment, having to go to Ireland and the Philippines to find the nurses it needed.

Mr Grayson says improvements are being made, and the commission has already acknowledged that.

However, a shortfall in funding has left the trust with £4.7 million of debt as they start the new financial year.

It had hoped for a £6m bailout fromthe South East Coast Strategic Health Authority to wipe clean the debt, partly amassed due to overtime payments because of staff shortages.

It means a tricky time will be ahead and with the publicity surrounding the commission’s report, the trust is going to be under the spotlight for many months to come.

People are going to want to see changes and improvements and will be watching very closely.