Residents living in West Sussex will find out what is going to happen to its hospitals within three months, it has been revealed.

Senior figures from the area's NHS trusts said it was likely a final decision on the future of the health service would be made by early July.

It follows months of talks and consultations designed to modernise the NHS in Sussex, with the possibility of some hospitals being downgraded or losing existing services.

Other health services could be centralised, raising fears over accessibility, particularly for those in rural areas.

An outline plan of the area's health provision will be made as early as next month, John Wilderspin, the chief executive of West Sussex Primary Care Trust, told a meeting of officials yesterday.

The locations of hospitals with centralised services will be decided by June 4, it was confirmed.

He told the meeting of West Sussex County Council's joint health overview and scrutiny committee: "We are reaching the end of the process. But we want to keep listening to you and to other stakeholders.

"There will be inevitable changes to the NHS and we must maintain the ability to be flexible."

Services at St Richard's Hospital, Chichester, Worthing Hospital and the Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath, are all under threat. The original proposals had involved having one majorgeneral hospital, with the two remaining hospitals losing their A&E departments, and consultant-led maternity servicescentralised on one site.

However, medics have come up with an alternative plan which would leave A&E services at all three hospitals, with maternity services still under review.

General Medical Council president Sir Graeme Catto, who was appointed to review the consultation, has supported the new proposal.

Mr Wilderspin told the meeting, which is one of the final public meetings on the issue, that he believed the consultation and decision-making process had been fair and properly conducted.

He said despite some "minor issues", such as problems distributing leaflets on the consultations and having a website which is said to be hard to navigate, he believed the process had been "robust".

However, Chichester MP Andrew Tyrie said he believed the process had experienced problems.

Asked if he believed the proposals and the consultation were flawed, Mr Tyrie said: "I think that probably is the case."

Mr Tyrie said part of his concerns rested on accessibility of hospitals, particularly for those living further away, or in rural areas.