The Liberal Democrats have been accused of scaremongering by Conservative MP’s with their claims about paediatric care at the Eastbourne District General Hospital.
At Prime Minsters Questions on Wednesday 7th February, Liberal Democrat MP Daisy Cooper stated that children and parents in Eastbourne would be forced to travel for miles to seek paediatric care.
The Prime Minister responded to the Lib Dem MP by saying he was aware of scaremongering amongst local Liberal Democrats about the future of services at Eastbourne, where a new hospital is being built with spades already in the ground.
Tim Loughton, Member of Parliament for East Worthing and Shoreham, raised a point of order with the deputy speaker regarding the Lib Dem MP’s intervention at Prime Ministers Questions earlier in the day.
In his point of order, he highlighted how residents in Eastbourne had been concerned with rumours that have been circulated by Liberal Democrats and believed that paediatric services were being removed from the Eastbourne DGH.
The reality of the situation is that there are plans to move the DGH towards an Advanced Paediatric Nurse Practitioner led unit rather than a consultant led unit, which the hospital states is an internal reorganisation and does not represent an activity shift to the Conquest in Hastings.
Members of Parliament whose constituents use the Eastbourne DGH, such as Lewes MP Maria Caulfield and Eastbourne MP Caroline Ansell, have had many concerns constituents believing that they will no longer be able to access paediatric services which is not true.
Member of Parliament for Lewes, Maria Caulfield MP said:
“It is a shame that the Liberal Democrats continue to spread misinformation and fear about the plans for the Eastbourne DGH, I would like to assure residents that they will still be able to access paediatric care at the DGH and will not need to travel to Hastings”