A temporary mortuary is being set up tomorrow on the Falmer campus to help cope with the coronavirus pandemic in Brighton and Hove.
Four temporary units providing 300 spaces are arriving tomorrow and will be placed in a discreet location in the Sussex University grounds and shielded from public view.
Although there are currently no issues with mortuary capacity in the area, the extra units are being ordered to ensure those who die are treated with dignity and respect.
Today’s figures show that there have been 227 confirmed cases diagnosed in Brighton and Hove, and 51 deaths at the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Sussex, in Brighton, and the Princess Royal, in Haywards Heath.
The units have been procured by the Sussex Resilience Forum (SRF). Its chair Dave Miller said he understood today’s announcement would be upsetting but that it was crucial that statutory duties continued to be fulfilled during this period and that reassurance was given to bereaved families, providers of funeral services and partners in the NHS of our capacity to do so.
He said: “I know this is something we don’t want to think about, but like every LRF area in the country, we are dealing with the effects of coronavirus and part of that is to make provision for additional mortuary capacity. We continue to hope for the best, but plan for the worst which we know the public would expect us to do.
“While the picture for the worst case scenario changes on a daily basis and will also be determined in part by the success of the lockdown measures in Sussex, we are expecting to deal with a rise in the number of deaths during the peak period that will take us beyond existing resource for this time of year.
“We are therefore putting measures and resources in place urgently to ensure all deaths during this period are dealt with with respect and dignity and in accordance with appropriate public health requirements.”
The units are supplied by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and will boost the existing 130 spaces managed by the Brighton and Sussex Medical School and the 92 spaces already at Woodvale, in Brighton.
More will arrive at Falmer next week to be used if necessary.
The SRF has been co-ordinating the death management plans working with skilled and experienced coroners, mortuary teams, police, NHS partners, funeral directors and council staff across East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove.
Units for an additional 230 spaces at Worthing Hospital and 290 at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester are expected to arrive early next week.
