AN MP has stepped in to help a

crisis-hit hospital described by health chiefs as "right on the edge".

Eastbourne MP Nigel Waterson is to meet

management at beleaguered Eastbourne District General Hospital over problems caused by increased admissions and understaffing.

Many routine operations have had to be cancelled as the

number of emergency admissions over the past month has risen dramatically.

The current outbreak of flu is also helping to push resources to the limit. Speaking on Radio Four's Today programme, the

hospital's chief executive, Alan Randall, said: "My concern is that we are right on the

edge. The service as a whole is right on the edge.

"There is no slack in the system and staff are under tremendous pressure.

"It is a credit to our planning and staff that we are maintaining a service."

Mr Waterson expressed his own

concern over the continuing crisis.

He will meet hospital chiefs next week with the aim of assessing the full impact of the problem.

Mr Waterson said: "Clearly there has been a significant increase in admissions due to

the flu epidemic and I pay tribute to the

hard work and dedication of doctors and nurses.

"But there are still some profound and serious questions which need to be answered and which I will be raising with senior hospital management when I meet them in a few days' time."

The latest problems faced by the Eastbourne hospital were highlighted last week when the Argus told how bodies were being kept in refrigerated lorries because its mortuary was unable to cope.

And in November, the hospital had to close one ward of 30 beds because of a lack of staff.

A month earlier a damning report into levels of care at the hospital following the death of two patients was published.

Mr Waterson said he hoped to have a

number of questions answered by management and added that he was confident the hospital could pull through its latest problems.

He said: "There is a crisis here that the Government has finally recognised but we need to separate that from the underlying problem, a

shortage of staff.

"I'm very keen to find out if the underlying problems are still there and get some exact figures."

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