GPs responsible for buying healthcare services in West Norfolk were met by protestors urging them to keep services at the King's Lynn Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).

Members from the health union Unison staged a demonstration outside the West Norfolk Borough Council offices in King's Lynn, where a monthly meeting of the West Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) was taking place.

They expressed fears services such as endoscopy are being moved to other hospitals.

They also said services like accident and emergency could be closed or reduced if people choose to use other NHS facilities due to worries about waiting times for the level of care.

However CCG chairman Dr Ian Mack pointed out that A&E was benefiting from a £3.9m grant from the Department of Health to deal with winter pressures.

He also said it was important to 'make sure we've got the right services in the right place' and that he felt MPs had got the message about the need for greater healthcare funding in West Norfolk 'loud and clear'.

Jo Rust, secretary of the King's Lynn and District Trades Council, said it was important to be 'raising awareness of the risks that the QEH is currently facing' and the show the CCG residents' support for the QEH.

Darren Barber, secretary of Unison's QEH branch, said the £3.9m Department of Health cash 'was what we needed to be up to the standard we expected anyway'.