CRITICALLY ill children from across the county who need to stay in hospital will have to be treated in Worcester under proposals put forward by health chiefs.

The plan to centralise paediatric inpatient services at Worcestershire Royal Hospital is one of the proposals put forward as part of a review at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.

The Worcester News reported on Friday how other plans include centralising maternity care at the Royal - meaning all pregnant women across the county would have to give birth in Worcester.

The proposals have enraged campaigners in Redditch who say essential services are being taken away from the town's Alexandra Hospital.

Neal Stote, chairman of the Save The Alex campaign, said: "If my child is taken ill I don't want the panic of having to drive to Worcester while his condition worsens.

"And I don't want to have to drive back and forth to visit. We need these essential services on the doorstep. In the meeting of the trust board meeting last week when these proposals were announced, medical director Dr Charles Ashton said, 'If I had a sick child and was driving past the Alex, I would carry on to Worcester'.

"These comments are an insult to the hard-working staff and the parents and children who rely on these services."

But in its proposal documents, the trust says: "The recent peer review for the critically ill child has stated that the Alex is not sufficiently staffed at night.

"The service needs to be centralised to ensure that sufficient medical staffing can be recruited and provided at all levels."

It has been proposed that the a paediatric assessment centre run by consultants - to prevent unnecessary admission to hospital - be established at the Alex from 8pm until late, and that paediatric day surgery be moved away from Kidderminster and concentrated at the Royal and the Alex.

Health chiefs are currently battling to make in-year savings of £30m but say these proposals are clinically driven rather than for financial reasons.