DOCTORS have united to "utterly reject" proposals to cut vital services at the Alexandra Hospital.

Redditch GPs are among Worcestershire Local Committee members who have slammed proposals to downgrade the Alex and transfer a number of departments, including A&E, to Worcester.

They have urged health chiefs to reconsider the plans, saying they are "unsound and unwanted".

They added A&E was an "absolutely vital" service, seeing 48,000 patients compared with 52,000 in Worcester.

The doctors said: "A full A&E department cannot continue without paediatric, obstetric and gynaecology back-up and it is simply not viable to transfer these units to Worcester.

"The key issue is the chronic under-funding of Worcestershire's health services. This needs to be addressed once and for all, otherwise we'll be left with increasingly sub-standard services."