Consultation on East Sussex hospital services

Views are sought on proposals for Eastbourne District General and Hastings's Conquest hospitals.

A public consultation on healthcare in East Sussex begins on Monday.

The consultation is being run jointly with NHS Sussex and East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.

They said A&E services would be maintained at both Eastbourne District General Hospital and the Conquest Hospital in Hastings.

Eastbourne's Lib Dem MP Stephen Lloyd said the trusts were considering ending high risk and emergency surgery, stroke treatment and orthopaedic services.

Dr Andy Slater, medical director at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, said: "We want every patient needing emergency diagnosis and treatment to be seen and treated swiftly by skilled and expert doctors.

"We want everybody who has had treatment to get the right support afterwards to enable a strong recovery in good time. These goals are not currently achievable and we want to change that."

The public consultation will run over 14 weeks and will include a series of public events across the county.

Dr Slater said: "This is about improving our services so we can do even better."