The NHS saved our lives

From the The Argus, first published Wednesday 29th Nov 2006.

The Argus today talks to six people who would not be alive if it were not for the care and treatment they received from the NHS.

They were patients at hospitals around Sussex and together they underline why it is so important to have a fully functioning accident and emergency and maternity service close by.

The NHS in the county is facing its biggest crisis yet. There is a real possibility that many of its hospitals will lose vital facilities and patients will be forced to travel miles for urgent treatment.

Today The Argus is calling on the people of Sussex to join forces and provide a united voice to save Sussex's hospitals.

The NHS in Sussex is millions of pounds in debt and managers are being ordered to curb huge overspends by making sweeping savings.

This has led to cutbacks, job losses and delays in treatment and there are fears things will get worse instead of better when a major consultation on the future of hospital services is launched early next year.

Now is the time to say enough is enough.

Whatever happens at one hospital will inevitably have an impact on its neighbour.

If, for example, Worthing loses its A&E department, patients will be taken to the already busy and overstretched Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Campaigners from across the county are today gathering outside a meeting of the South East Coast Strategic Health Authority to make their views known and are hoping for a large turnout.

We are printing an open letter to Health Sec-retary Patricia Hewitt in The Argus today, which we are asking everyone in the county to sign and send back to us.

When we have collected in the letters we will take them to the Department of Health to show just how much the county's residents, patients and NHS staff care for their hospitals.

Copies of the open letter should be signed and sent to Siobhan Ryan at Argus House, Crowhurst Road, Brighton, BN1 8AR.

The letter is also available to sign online, click here.

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There is little doubt in Clare Forbes' mind that she would have died if it had not been for the efforts of staff at Crawley Hospital.

The determined 22-year-old who has had both legs amputated below the knee after contracting meningitis, is well known for her efforts to raise thousands of pounds for charity.

She has walked two marathons on her prosthetic legs and overcome her fear of heights to do a parachute jump, among other fund-raising events.

The accident and emergency department where Clare was treated has since closed and seriously ill patients are now transferred several miles away to East Surrey Hospital in Redhill instead.

She and her family are convinced that if she had had to travel further afield for treatment when she first became ill she would not have survived.

The possible closure of A&E departments elsewhere in Sussex has led Clare to back the campaign to save them.

Clare, from Crawley, fell ill in March 2001. Every movement hurt her and she couldn't walk more than a couple of steps without falling.

She developed the tell-tale rash that indicates meningitis en route to Crawley Hospital and was given antibiotics as soon as she arrived.

Three days later she was transferred to a specialist meningitis unit in London and made a good recovery.

Clare said: "I was so sick at first there was no way I would have survived a longer journey. I would not be here now. The staff at Crawley were brilliant and saved my life. I was upset when they closed the A&E department down and it is worrying that others now have to go all the way to Redhill instead.

"I fully support the fight to keep services at other hospitals in the county because I know just how important it is to have something like A&E nearby."

If it weren't for dedicated hospital staff, 13-year-old Hayley Hill would also not be alive today.

Her mother Sue Hill is unstinting in her praise of the treatment her daughter had at the Royal Sussex County Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital.

The youngster arrived 16 weeks premature in December 1992, weighing just 1lb 12oz and doctors warned Sue she might not live.

Hayley stayed in the Trevor Mann baby unit at the Royal Sussex until the following February before being transferred to the Royal Alex. She had a chronic lung disorder plus a hole in the heart and was in hospital for two weeks out of every four in her first two years.

In the September of her first year Hayley developed bronchitis and went on to life support and her mother thought she was going to lose her.

However, Hayley survived and went on to have a heart operation shortly after her second birthday. Since then Hayley has gone from strength to strength and is a popular student at Varndean School in Brighton.

She has to wear two hearing aids and has some problems with breathing. She has also had an operation to repair her vocal chords.

Sue said: "The hospital has been wonderful for Hayley and there is no doubt they saved her life.

"I will back any campaign that fights to protect all hospitals so they can carry on providing the top service they can."

Eileen Forster is in little doubt that medics at Worthing Hospital have saved her life.

The mother of four suffers from epilepsy and has in the past had to be rushed to the hospital's accident and emergency department for treatment for a fit.

Staff at the hospital were also the ones who diagnosed her condition and give her the treatment she needs.

Mrs Forster, 38, from Worthing, is horrified at the thought of the hospital's A&E department closing.

She said: "I am sure that if I had had to travel all the way to Brighton after suffering a fit I would not have made it. They basically saved my life. With a condition like this, time and speed is of the essence and I need help as quickly as possible.

"I am disgusted that people are even thinking about closing the department."

Mrs Forster is married to sheet-metal engineer Malcolm, 45, and the couple have four daughters, aged from seven to 18 months. She said: "All my children were born in Worthing with no problems and the youngest is getting regular treatment there because she has a birthmark in her eye.

"It is a great hospital and it needs all the support it can get. It is madness to think other hospitals in Sussex will be able to cope with the extra patients if services are shut."

Mrs Forster has written numerous letters and sent cards to a host of names including the Queen, Princes Charles, Prince William, Princess Anne, Tony Blair, Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt and Chancellor Gordon Brown.

She said: "I fully intend to keep the pressure on the whole time and I would urge other people around Sussex to do the same."

Danni Segal is in no doubt of the importance of his local hospital. Only recently the 35-year-old had to be rushed to the Conquest in St Leonards with serious breathing problems.

Without the quick actions of staff at the hospital, Mr Segal may not have survived. Mr Segal, who runs an IT training company with his wife Lisa, 34, had been laid low with a virus which had led to the return of his chronic asthma.

He ended up spending three nights in hospital and has nothing but praise for the care he received.

If there had been no A&E at the Conquest, Mr Segal would have had to travel to Eastbourne District General instead.

The location of the Conquest is doubly important for the couple because it is where their son Ryan, two, was born.

Mr Segal said: "Thankfully there was room for Lisa and him and we had no problems, but it was still stressful all round.

"The thought that we might have had to go further afield for Lisa to give birth is appalling.

"The road between the hospitals is a single carriageway and it is impossible to overtake. If you find yourself stuck behind a tractor then you have had it."

Mrs Segal said he is confused at the reasoning behind the proposed changes to hospital services.

He said: "We hear about all this money being ploughed into the NHS yet they are cutting jobs and services.

"The people making these decisions need to be made accountable."

"I can accept the idea of travelling further afield for an operation or to see a particular specialist, even though it may be awkward.

"However, I cannot accept it when it comes to basics like accident and emergency and maternity. These services needed to be locally provided.

"When time is an essential factor then distance comes into the equation. It is just a matter of common sense."

Ian Stinchcombe from Bognor suffered a severe stroke in 2004 and on a few occasions he has had bleeds, which have meant an urgent trip to St Richard's Hospital in Chichester.

His wife Pat, 69, said there had been times when it was touch and go whether her husband would survive.

She said: "St Richard's has saved his life several times. When he was haemorrhaging it was very scary and very frightening but they have always been wonderful."

Steve Mohabir was the lone survivor of a car crash on the A23 at Pyecombe in May 2004 that killed eight people, including his two-year- old son Marcus.

He spent two weeks in intensive care at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath and was discharged after six weeks.

Mr Mohabir, 37, and his wife Tracey are full of praise for the staff and expert care he got in hospital. He said: "They definitely saved my life. They did a terrific job."

Since Mr Mohabir's accident, serious emergency cases like his are now sent to Brighton instead.

Mr Mohabir, from Godalming, Surrey, said: "I definitely back any campaign that fights to keep full services at hospitals close to people's homes."

To sign the letter to Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt online, click here

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