Blair to see hospital campaigners

The trust which runs the hospital has a £5m deficit

Concern that a hospital in East Sussex could be downgraded with the loss of A&E and maternity facilities prompted an MP to raise the issue in Parliament.

The prime minister was asked by Nigel Waterson if he would meet a delegation from Eastbourne to discuss cuts at the town's District General Hospital.

The Conservative MP for Eastbourne invited Tony Blair to find out more about problems faced by the hospital.

Mr Blair responded that he would be happy to meet the MP and a delegation.

'Strength of feeling'

East Sussex NHS Hospitals Trust, which runs the Eastbourne District General Hospital and the Conquest Hospital in Hastings, announced it was axing up to 250 jobs in April.

The trust, which has a £5m deficit, said at the time that it hoped the changes would be achieved through natural wastage, although redundancies had not been ruled out.

Mr Waterson had told the prime minister, during question time in the Commons on Wednesday, that people were "desperately worried about financial pressures, job cuts and the loss of core services" at the hospital.

In his reply, Mr Blair said the trust had to deal with its financial deficit.

Speaking afterwards, Mr Waterson said he was sure Mr Blair would "be impressed by the strength of feeling locally about the possible downgrading" of the hospital.