Not 'safe' send patients to Brighton when it cannot cope - Lib Dem

Speaking at the public meeting held by the new Sussex PCT on Wednesday, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesman, Serena Tierney,

told the new health bosses that it was not safe to send patients to the RSC Hospital in Brighton before that hospital had the capability to cope.

"I am hearing daily accounts of patients being sent to Brighton and experiencing long delays in receiving treatment because the hospital is over-stretched. The new health chief said that the major reason for changes is to ensure 'safer treatment'. This must really mean something and not just be more weasel language like 'Best Care, Best Place.'

She also had some advice for the forthcoming consultation on the new round of changes:

"Put the issues and options to us before you decide what you are going to do. Make your decision reflect the expressed wishes of the local community. And finally, do it yourselves: don't use outside consultants."

"The real problem with the health service is that it is no longer under proper democratic control. If it were, health bosses would lose their jobs if they did not deliver what local people want and we would have a much more responsive health service."