West Sussex MP Gillian Keegan commends plans to expand stroke services at Chichester hospital

The NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board agreed proposals to expand stroke services at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester to develop an Acute Stroke Centre at its meeting in public on Wednesday 29th November.

The Member of Parliament for Chichester, Gillian Keegan MP, hailed the move as a positive step forward for patients: “I am pleased that St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester has been chosen to host the new Acute Stroke Centre as part of the wider network with the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

“Strokes are one of the leading causes of death in the UK, so having this new centre in our city will vastly improve outcomes for people across West Sussex. I would like to thank all who have been involved in getting us to this point, and I look forward to seeing further developments in the near future.”

For the last five years, leading health professionals in Sussex have been working to review existing stroke services and identify where improvements can be made. The new centre will ensure that people living in Adur, Arun, Chichester, Worthing and south of Horsham have access to high quality hospital-based stroke care 24 hours a day, with stroke specialists on call around the clock.

The news of the improved services at St Richard’s comes as the Government announced it had hit its target of recruiting and retaining 50,000 more nurses in England. This includes 9,000 nurses in the South East to help improve waiting times.

In a further boost to local health services, it was also revealed earlier this month that the Chichester University Community Diagnostic Centre would open nearby in Bognor Regis. The new facility will provide CT and MRI scans along with ultrasound checks and blood tests to patients, and deliver at least 18,000 additional tests once fully operational. The site is due to open later this month.