East Sussex NHS Trust responds to petition urging for cardiac unit to stay at Hastings Conquest Hospital
An appeal that's gained over 4,500 signatures is claiming residents will lose "immediate access to essential care services".
The NHS Trust which runs Hastings Conquest Hospital's responded to a petition urging for decision makers to drop alleged plans to relocate it's cardiac unit to Eastbourne.
The appeal, that's gained over 4,500 signatures, claims the move would leave residents "without immediate access to essential care services".
But a spokesperson for East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust explained "patients being cared for in Conquest will still be able to access heart failure services, cardiac-monitored beds, non-invasive diagnostics (including echocardiograms), cardiac rehabilitation and outpatient care at that hospital."
It added:
"Our plans to improve cardiology across East Sussex - approved by East Sussex County Council Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee and NHS Sussex in 2022 after a full public consultation and a three-year process - will mean that more than nine out of ten patients living in Hastings who need cardiac care will still receive most or all of that care at Conquest hospital.
"The centralising of highly specialist interventional cardiology at Eastbourne DGH is likely to impact only around three percent of patients who receive cardiac care.
"With this complex inpatient work moving from the Conquest, these beds will no longer be required by the cardiology team."
The statement continued:
"The 2022 consultation provided for the strengthening of emergency department cardiac care at both Conquest and Eastbourne DGH with the creation of Cardiac Response Teams.
These teams provide immediate specialist cardiac assessment and treatment to patients ensuring faster diagnosis and a shorter length of stay in hospital.
"The team at Conquest hospital is already seeing patients.
We remain of the view that these changes, approved in 2022, will mean we will have a stronger, consistent, high quality service which is established in line with national good practice.
"These plans have included careful analysis of patient travel times to ensure that everyone in East Sussex can access the care they need in a timely way, as set out in national guidance."