Work is due to start before Christmas on a £30 million expansion of the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.
The first phase involves providing 35 spaces for patients arriving by ambulance. This is expected to be in place by Christmas.
Hospital trust chief executive Marianne Griffiths said today (Wednesday 27 September): “Site preparation works around the drop-off area will start before the end of the year and the new facility is scheduled to open towards the end of 2018.”
In a report to the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust board, she said: “Following NHS Improvement’s approval in July, Brighton and Hove City Council’s Planning Committee has now approved plans to build a new Short Stay Unit above the County Hospital’s A&E Department’s vehicle drop-off area.
“The 70-bed unit will provide care for both medical and surgical patients who require a stay of two days or less in hospital.
“The unit lies at the heart of a major £30 million programme of improvements for the A&E Department.
“The programme also includes a new Ambulatory Care Unit and the reconfiguration of the existing department.
“The extra capacity offered by the Short Stay Unit will help improve admissions from A&E and make it easier to get patients to the right bed in the right department at the right time, thus improving patient care.”
