£30 million extension of A&E department given the go-ahead

Plans for a £30mn extension of the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department at the Royal Sussex County Hospital have been given the go ahead by planners.

The proposals were approved by members of Brighton & Hove City Council Planning Committee at a meeting yesterday afternoon (Wednesday 13 September). However, some councillors did express reservations about the design of the extension.

The extension plans for the hospital on Eastern Road in Brighton include a new 70-bed Short Stay Unit – to provide care for surgical and medical patients requiring admittance to the hospital for a period of 48hrs or less.

The new unit will be housed over two floors – extending the existing A&E building, above its outside ambulance and car drop-off area.

The extension will stand on columns, allowing access to the front door of A&E for both vehicles as well as pedestrians.

Evelyn Barker, Managing Director of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Patient care is our first priority.”

She added: “Over the coming years we will be genuinely improving what patients experience when they come to A&E.”

She continued: “Today’s decision allows us to push ahead with the key to all the planned improvements, our new short stay unit.”

Work on the new centre will begin this winter and the facility is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.

As well as the extension of the A&E unit, the Royal Sussex Hospital is undergoing a modernisation programme (known as the 3Ts programme) at the cost of £485 million. This is due for completion in 2024.

By Clare Calder