Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt is to investigate fears that Worthing Hospital is to be downgraded and could lose its accident and emergency services.

West Worthing MP Peter Bottomley challenged Ms Hewitt in the House of Commons yesterday about the growing worries in the town. The Secretary of State pledged to scrutinise plans for the hospital.

The challenge was prompted by rumours that Surrey and Sussex Strategic Health Authority (SHA) is secretly considering nine options for the future of health services across both counties.

Six of the options are believed to involve the downgrading of Worthing and the loss of its A&E services.

NHS organisations in the authority's area are reporting an overall deficit of more than £85 million and the SHA is looking at where to make savings.

Campaigners in Worthing fear that services such as A&E and maternity could be transferred to other hospitals. That would mean patients would have to travel for treatment to hospitals such as the already overstretched Royal Sussex County in Brighton more than 12 miles away.

Mr Bottomley told Ms Hewitt that "any moves to downgrade Worthing will be resisted in the strongest possible terms".

There are similar fears in the east of the county where campaigners are worried Eastbourne District General Hospital will lose its A&E department to Conquest Hospital in St Leonards,.

Patients in Mid Sussex with multiple injuries already have to travel to the Royal Sussex for treatment instead of the nearer Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, while Crawley Hospital has no A&E department, with patients going to Redhill in Surrey.

Mr Bottomley and East Worthing and Shoreham MP Tim Loughton are urging SHA chief executive Candy Morris to open the authority's discussions to public scrutiny.

Mr Loughton said: "There is far too much secret discussion and not enough open information. Is there is a big gap between what the SHA is saying in public and what is happening behind the scenes? Patients need to know."

The MPs said they feared that decisions were likely to be made without any public scrutiny.

A spokesman for the SHA said: "There is no hidden agenda. This is a work in progress and nothing has happened yet. We have to take a realistic look at the affordability and viability of all our services.

"We are now in discussion with patients, carers, service users, staff and the wider community to develop options for consultation about how we can deliver sustainable services."

She said it was likely that a three-month public consultation period on any options for major changes would begin in the autumn.

But the two MPs said that by the time any formal consultation is launched, the decisions could have already have been made.