What on earth are NHS leaders thinking by approving plans to move the Specialist Cardiac Services from the Conquest Hospital to Eastbourne District General Hospital?

Like many Hastings residents, I was shocked to learn that NHS leaders have approved plans to move the Specialist Cardiac Services from the Conquest Hospital to Eastbourne District General Hospital.

What on earth are they thinking?

Research shows that Hastings is the most deprived lower tier local authority in Sussex and one of the most deprived in the country.

SEE ALSO: The people of Hastings are deeply shocked to learn that the Conquest Hospital's Cardiac department is being moved to Eastbourne District General Hospital

The experiences of deprivation contribute to higher rates of heart disease compared with the rest of England.

As a result, Hastings residents have a lower life expectancy than the England average.

With this knowledge, how could NHS Trust leaders possibly suggest that it’s suitable for heart patients to be forced to travel 20 miles for treatment?

Have you read....: NHS Sussex approves moving specialist heart surgeries from Hastings to Eastbourne

Patients requiring emergency cardiac intervention require a rapid response, not a 45/50-minute journey to Eastbourne.

Furthermore, our hard-working paramedics are totally overstretched, and there is a severe shortage of ambulances.

It beggars belief to think that this proposal was approved by a small group of people with no proper public consultation that I am aware of. This proposal must be overturned as rapidly as it was approved.

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