Ground broken for new elective care hub at Eastbourne District General Hospital

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust chairman Steve Phoenix and chief executive Joe Chadwick-Bell gathered with colleagues and NHS stakeholders for the ceremony on Thursday, August 17.

The project is set to deliver a modern, purpose-built day surgery unit which will include a pre-assessment area, four theatres, admission, recovery and discharge space plus associated support facilities. The new unit will increase the amount of day surgery activity that takes place across Sussex.

It will be open from 7am-11pm and conducting procedures from 8am-6pm, initially for five days a week, but this will move up to six days.

An NHS spokesperson said: "It will offer residents from across Sussex the opportunity to have their day surgery procedure performed more quickly and in a purpose-built environment that allows extra capacity to address both current and future surgical needs.”

Mr Phoenix added: “It is a privilege to mark the beginning of this exciting project. The elective care hub will make a real difference to how we treat patients and lead to an improvement in the quality of care we can deliver.”

Mr Chadwick-Bell said: “Its great to see work getting underway on this purpose built elective hub which will mean better facilities for our staff and patients. The project is a partnership between our trust and partners at NHS Sussex ad NHS England and today marks a milestone in making the plans a reality.”

The new elective hub is due to open in March 2025.