Nicholas Soames MP and Nick Herbert MP met with Peter Coles, Chief Executive of the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, this morning to express their continued anxieties about the Princess Royal Hospital and the need to retain full services for an expanding population.

Nicholas Soames said; “Nick Herbert and I now await the briefing from the West Sussex Primary Care Trust which will take place on Friday 2nd March at which the Chief Executive, John Wilderspin, will set out the definitive timetable for the release of the consultation document. This must be a proper, genuine, full consultation with local people, ahead of any irreversible decision being taken. We remain convinced that there must be proper local services for local people.”

Nick Herbert said; “It is essential that proposals for the reconfiguration of health care are fully costed so that people can see where they will be treated and reassured that local services will be available and retained in the future.

“We’ve already been through one consultation, Best care, Best Place, where the Minister promised to keep the PRH’s A&E Department open, yet within a year it is once again under threat.”

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