Former councillor praises caring A&E staff after hours in corridor

A former councillor has praised doctors and nurses for the first-class care that she received during a recent stay at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton.

Dawn Barnett, 85, served as a councillor for almost 20 years from 2004 to 2023. She said: “So many people say the hospital is terrible. I’m fed up with people running the hospital down.

“I know that corridor care is necessary – I was in the corridor for hours – but the care that I was given was the best you could get anywhere.

“It wasn’t chaotic. The staff were organised. They were bringing food and drink round and the service was first class. The staff were superb. They were fantastic.

“There was no shouting or arguing. It’s unfortunate they need to use the corridor. It’s very busy. I was in the corridor all day and half the night.”

Mrs Barnett, a retired carer, said that she was admitted with a fever, having felt giddy and then having collapsed at her home in Hangleton.

She also praised the care that she received from the ambulance paramedics who attended her in the first instance before she was taken to the A&E (Accident and Emergency) Department at the Royal Sussex.

But, she said, Hove used to have its own hospital, in Sackville Road, and added that it would be better if it had been replaced, as promised before it closed, with a new one.

The Royal Sussex had to serve a huge population, she said, adding: “They can build and build but they need to put enough staff in place.”

She said that Portsmouth and Southampton both had a smaller population than Brighton and Hove but had more hospitals.

Despite her criticism of the system, she said that she could not fault those who treated her and put her on the road to recovery.

She said: “They were marvellous – each and every one of them.”