HEALTHCARE campaigners claim the decision to share hospital services across south and mid Essex is “deeply disappointing”.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock rejected calls for the plans to be axed claiming the expert advice was to go ahead.

It means hospitals will no longer run all services individually but share them across the region.

Southend Council leader Ian Gilbert, said: “It was a cross-party decision to refer this issue to the secretary of state and we are deeply disappointed that the referral has been rebuffed. We will consider further steps we can take.”

Councillor Lesley Salter, chairman of the health overview and scrutiny committee, said: “I endorse much of what the leader says and am also deeply disappointed.

“We now need to do all we can to hold the Mid and South Essex Hospitals Group to account and make sure these changes lead to better outcomes for our residents.”

Save Southend NHS spokesman Mike Fieldhouse added: “We are hugely disappointed but not entirely surprised. This Government is hell-bent on privatising as much of the NHS as it thinks it can get away with.

“Save Southend NHS will continue to fight to keep the NHS in public hands, providing the best health care possible, free at the point of delivery.

“We will scrutinise any changes to services and alert the public to anything we believe is detrimental to general health provision and the public’s well- being.”

However Southend West MP Sir David Amess claimed it is right the decision is made by medical professionals and not politicians.

He said: “The panel is independent and I trust that it has made the decision based on clinician’s support for any changes.

“I have said all along that it is not for politicians to make these decisions and that any changes must be clinically led as it is the medical professionals who have the expertise to know how health services can be delivered in the best interests of all our residents.”

For Southend the decision to proceed with the plans means residents will see a series of major changes to healthcare treatment.

These will include a treat and transfer model where patients are initially treated at their nearest hospital and then transferred to whichever hospital in the area specialises in their condition.

In Thurrock labour councillor Victoria Holloway, chairman of Thurrock Council’s health overview and scrutiny committee, said: “The health secretary has just signed the death warrant for our hospital at a time when our health service needs vital investment, not more cuts. We need to keep our hospital and grow our health infrastructure.”