ANGRY CROWDS CONFRONT CARE TRUST TOP BRASS BY DAVID WHITE

This was KWASH (Keep Worthing and Southlands Hospitals) chairman Tom Wye's message at a public meeting held at the Charmandean Centre last Tuesday.

Major Wye joined fellow KWASH campaigners and members of the public as hundreds of people packed into the centre to have their say on the future of hospitals in West Sussex.

The atmosphere at the meeting was hostile with around 380 people being admitted and around 300 others not able to gain entry.

KWASH campaigners made themselves heard before the meeting, protesting with air horns, whistles and drumming.

Speaking on the support from locals Major Wye said: "It just goes to show that Worthing is going to stick together and we are going to fight this."

The meeting didn't get off to a good start when Gavin Grey, a supposedly independent chairman, was asked if he was being paid by the PCT, which he confirmed he was.

Emotions ran high throughout the evening and there were calls of 'rubbish' and 'tell the truth' from the public, particularly when West Sussex PCT chief executive John Wilderspin said the reasons for the proposed changes were not financial, and at one point a man in the audience flicked an object at chairman Mr Grey.

For full story and other related stories see West Sussex Gazette, August 1