Following a 12-week public consultation, the local NHS has confirmed plans for a new 54-bed inpatient mental health services facility in East Sussex to be built on a site in North East Bexhill by March 2024, at cost of around £46 million.
Members of the East Sussex Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) endorsed the plans at a meeting in early December, following approval by NHS governing bodies. Last June, the NHS East Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT) put forward a proposal to move mental health inpatient services at the Department of Psychiatry in Eastbourne District General Hospital (pictured) to new facilities to be built on a different site, either in Bexhill or near Hailsham. The proposal enables the local NHS to benefit from national funding being made available to eradicate dormitory accommodation in all inpatient services.
A public consultation into the proposals between June and September saw hundreds make their views known – including service-users, carers, families, representative groups, charities, politicians and members of the public. The Trust said: “Most respondents to the consultation strongly supported the proposals, with the site in Mount View Street, North East Bexhill, the preferred location. There was also strong support for a long-term vision to create ‘campus’-style facilities on a single site to address all mental health inpatient needs across East Sussex for many years to come.”
Dr David Warden, Clinical Chair of the East Sussex CCG Governing Body, said: “Our plan to build a new hospital in Bexhill enables us to remove outdated dormitory accommodation at the Department of Psychiatry, and replace it with individual bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms for all our patients. This means people with serious mental health problems will receive high-quality care in modern and safe accommodation which preserves their privacy and dignity and provides the best therapeutic environment.”