Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust has discussed options for moving forward with a plan to develop the former Brighton General Hospital site in East Brighton.
These were discussed by the Trust’s Board at a Board meeting in public, as a new feasibility study, called a Strategic Outline Case (SOC), was considered.
The SOC sets out a preferred way forward, involving the construction of a 5,247 sqm six-storey Community Health and Wellbeing Hub on the site of the former ambulance station at the front of the Brighton General campus.
The Hub will be the main centre for the delivery of integrated community and mental health services for people in East Brighton over the next decade. This will be funded mainly by the sale of remaining land on site for housing development.
This proposal is a reworking of a previous plan to build a new Health Hub at Brighton General that was approved by the Trust’s Board in 2020 but put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We expect the approval process to take approximately 18 months after the Strategic Case is submitted this autumn
This new plan will provide a fit-for-purpose environment for patients, making access easier for people in wheelchairs, those who have difficulty walking and visitors with young children, as well as a modern workplace to support staff recruitment and wellbeing.
By retaining and repurposing some of the buildings on site that date back to the 1880s, the development will preserve the historical and architectural value of the Brighton General site.
The Health Hub and housing scheme will also meet high environmental standards, helping us to achieve our net-zero goals, and allowing for improved landscaping and new green space to help protect biodiversity on site.
Whilst the Trust’s Board agreed to move forward with a new Health Hub in the meeting, approval from the Trust’s regulator, NHS England, is needed before further resources can be allocated to planning next steps.
Once national approval is received, staff, patients and local residents will be invited to help shape the development of new facilities on the Brighton General site through a comprehensive programme of community engagement.
“We expect the approval process to take approximately 18 months after the Strategic Case is submitted this autumn,” the Trust stated.