Hundreds of campaigners have rallied to push NHS bosses not to slash £30milliom annual budget to Southend Hospital services.

Save Our NHS Southend protesters marched down Southend town centre on Saturday afternoon to challenge proposals to save £400million by centralising specialised surgeries by centralising and relocating them across Southend, Bromfield, or Basildon.

These include general surgery, emergency trauma and orthopaedic surgeries.

Campaigners also say the NHS is embroiled in a crisis of underfunding, understaffing and privatisation.

Tim Sneller, chairman of Save NHS, said: "We're concerned they will be transferring out numerous clinical and specialised surgeries from the hospital.

"This means around 225 patients needing critical care will, instead, be transferred to services in Basildon, Chelmsford or Bromfield.

"There is no evidence clinical evidence transferring patients will improve patient outcomes. Instead it poses a huge risk to patients' health and their lives.

"It is outrageous. This is like a postcode life lottery, and it's an injustice for people in our area. This is about the potential lost of lives for financial cuts.

"Moving critically ill patients far away from their families is detrimental to all concerned."

Ashley Dalton, Southend Labour's parliamentary candidate for Rochford and Southend east, said: "It was great to see so many people turning up.

"It's important that people know the great work we do to challenge proposals around A&E services. Having £30million cut from the hospital will have a terrible consequences."

Fran Thorley, 59 from Southchurch, said: "I have been using NHS service for four years and I came to the march to protest against it becoming privatised.

"The general public hear a lot about NHS' problems but not many know the extent of it. The whole point of the NHS is to help people, especially people can't afford expensive medical bills."