With just a few months until patients are welcomed to a new hospital building for Sussex, MPs from Brighton and Chichester have had first look inside £486m Stage One redevelopment of the Royal Sussex County Hospital.
Much of the construction work is now complete, with nine of its eleven clinical floors due to be handed over to University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust from the building contractor at the end of November.
Gillian Keegan, Secretary of State for Education and MP for Chichester, and Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion, were accompanied on the tour by the Trust’s Chief Executive, Dr George Findlay and the Chief Financial Officer, Karen Geoghegan.
Gillian Keegan MP said: “It is amazing! The modern equipment, and the single-occupancy rooms with ensuite, will all be wonderful for patients.”
Caroline Lucas MP, agreed, saying: “I am not often speechless, but I do feel a bit speechless to be honest – the space, the airiness and, of course, the views are just extraordinary.”
The Chief Executive of NHS Sussex, Adam Doyle, and the organisation’s Chief Nurse, Allison Cannon, also joined the group to see first-hand the new facilities that will be opening in Spring 2023.
The tour showcased modern medical technology that will offer patients new treatments and surgical techniques in the neurosurgery and interventional radiology theatres. One theatre will be dedicated to a surgical robot.
Caroline added: “It is a building that just embodies the absolute cutting-edge of scientific innovation at the same time as being such a human building with so much attention being paid to the patient’s experience.
“I think it is amazing a huge tribute to everyone involved.”
The RSCH is the regional Major Trauma Centre and the new building dedicates one entire floor to Critical Care services. It will also provide other specialist tertiary care services for people living right across Sussex.
Gillian said it was great news for her constituents in Chichester, noting that some people must currently travel to London for treatment that could now be provided locally.
She said: “It will be fantastic to be able to provide their care in Sussex, and somewhere so beautiful too – it will be a real joy for people to recuperate and recover in this environment.”
In the coming months, 32 wards and departments will be moving into the new building to get ready to care for around 100,000 patients every year.
To find out more about 3Ts, please visit our hospital redevelopment page.