In a leaked letter obtained by the EDP, senior medics at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) have accused its leadership of causing "immense distress" among staff and patients following reports that the units could be downgraded.

Earlier this month, this newspaper revealed that the Norfolk and Waveney University Hospitals Group - which oversees the QEH, the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital and Gorleston's James Paget - was carrying out a review of clinical services that risked downgrading provisions.

The group has insisted that “no decisions have been made” and that urgent and emergency care will remain in King's Lynn at the QEH around the clock. 

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn (Image: QEH)

However critics have pointed out that this pledge leaves open the possibility of a scaled-back service, such as a smaller emergency department unable to handle trauma, cardiac arrest or stroke.

The QEH serves a large and sparsely populated area, and there are concerns locally about what a downgrade would mean for patients needing to reach hospitals as far as Norwich, Peterborough or Cambridge in a life-threatening emergency.

Amid growing concern among locals in west Norfolk, the damning document seen by the EDP sets out the impact the reports have had within the hospital itself.

The letter was sent by the chair of the Local Negotiating Committee, the body that represents consultants in discussions with management, and called for urgent clarification from the group.

It reads: "We must express our profound discomfort regarding the current handling of the clinical strategy review and the serious threat it poses to our core services.

The hospital is the second biggest in Norfolk (Image: Supplied)

"The recent media coverage reporting the potential closure or severe downgrading of our Accident & Emergency (A&E), Intensive Care Unit (ITU), and Maternity services has caused immense distress among our staff, our patients and the wider community.

"We must ask whether some form of public consultation or disclosure led to this media reporting, as the sudden public........

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