It is a delight to be able to share some really positive news with my constituents about the future of the maternity services in Mid Sussex.

On the 19th January at the invitation of Duncan Selbie, the Chief Executive of the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, I visited the maternity wards and the Special Care Baby Unit at the Princess Royal Hospital to hear about the Trust’s plans to strengthen the maternity services.

It was a wonderful opportunity to see at first hand the excellent service which the PRH provides to local mothers and their babies and I thoroughly enjoyed my time meeting families and staff.

The provision of strong and safe maternity services at the PRH has been secured as the result of the hard work of Duncan Selbie and his team which has brought about a fundamental change to the way that this service is provided by having the maternity doctors work as a single team across the units in Haywards Heath and Brighton. Over the course of 2009 there will be an increase in the number of consultants from 11 to 14.

I am absolutely confident that these maternity services, which are ranked the third best in England by the Healthcare Commission, will be retained and the new arrangements will now be considered by the Primary Care Trust’s Board for approval.

So where does this leave the Primary Care Trust’s ‘Fit for the Future’ consultation on the future of health services across West Sussex, which has been of such great concern to people in East Grinstead and elsewhere?

On Thursday the West Sussex PCT Board voted to support the merger of the Worthing and Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust and the Royal West Sussex NHS Trust. The suspension of the ‘Fit for the Future’ process has been lifted and the PCT will now review its original decisions in relation to the maternity services at the PRH.

The PCT has given an assurance that they will be taking into “consideration any new issues that have arisen since the original decisions” and I am therefore absolutely confident that the new arrangements at the PRH will be approved.

I have been a Member of Parliament for 26 years and I have never before witnessed such overwhelming support for a local campaign; the ‘Support the Princess Royal Hospital Campaign’; as I have seen over the last two years and I wish to thank everyone who has given up their time whether by writing letters, signing the petition or attending marches – I am confident that a victory is now in sight.