"A&Es are drowning under pressure"

Clare Panniker, chief executive of Basildon, Orsett and Broomfield hospitals and Sue Hardy, chief executive of Southend Hospital, told members of the South Essex British Medical Association change is needed so they can cope with growing demands on health services.

The pair are at the heart of the NHS England Mid and South Essex Success Regime, which wants to put an end to the duplication of services in hospitals which are struggling to fill doctor and nursing vacancies.

The regime is currently looking at creating a major trauma centre, downgrading the remaining two hospitals to deal with less serious cases.

Ms Hardy said: “Change has to happen now.

“The NHS has never been under the pressure it is currently in terms of its finances and workforce.”

Ms Panniker added: “We know that we are really struggling with a system which is overwhelmed with demand and we have not got our services in such a way that we can look forward to the future and be reassured they will be of a high quality.

“The capacity for change has always been drowned out by the pressures of coping with demand, meeting waiting list targets and keeping the show on the road, which has meant we have not been able to address the fundamental issues.”

Medical and nursing directors from the three hospital trusts involved in the regime, which serve more than one million patients, are trying to identify the best way to deliver care to patients in A&E, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics and acute medicine.

A key focus has been on the provision of emergency care with all three hospitals seeing more people visit A&E than ever before, with clinical evidence suggesting getting seriously ill or injured people to the right specialists can greatly improve their chances of survival.

It is estimated there will be a financial deficit of more than £200million across all three hospitals by 2017/18 unless changes are made.