A HOSPITAL boss has spoken out for the first time over allegations that his wards are unsafe.

Clive Uren, chief executive of Eastbourne Hospitals Trust, has hit out at claims that Eastbourne District General Hospital is at crisis point, with wards manned by overworked nurses.

The hospital came under fire after the deaths of two patients.

Last year Pauline Freeman bled to death on a ward manned by just one qualified nurse and three auxiliaries looking after 34 patients.

In March this year nurses failed to revive pensioner Marjorie Dyer after mixing up her notes with another patient's.

This week more than 200 people attended a meeting of Eastbourne's Primary Care Group to voice their fears.

The Community Health Council accused the hospital of not giving the public enough information but in a letter to the council, Mr Uren said: "It is not our intention to minimise genuine public concerns about standards of care within the hospital.

"It is not true that neither of these deaths have been debated in public as this is precisely what occured at the coroner's inquests."

The hospital currently has around 45 vacant nursing posts out of 833.

He said: "The vast majority of our patients are happy with the care that they receive in the Trust.

"It is a great pity that as a result of the recent media attention some of the local community will have a different perception."

But Community Health Council chief officer John Faulds said: "It is wrong to say this situation has been adequately debated, much more needs to be known. So far the public's fears have not been addressed at all."

He added: "The public has a right to know if the demands on nurses are too great."

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