Plans for new NHS elective surgery hub at Eastbourne District General Hospital is welcomed

On Thursday (March 2), the East Sussex Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) heard from NHS leaders about plans to create an elective surgery hub at Eastbourne District General Hospital.

The hub, expected to open in November 2024, would offer elective day surgeries in a range of areas, such as: urology; breast surgery; vascular; maxillofacial; ear, nose and throat; gynaecology; orthopaedic; and community dental.

Following discussion, the committee unanimously agreed the creation of the new facility would not constitute a ‘substantial variation’ to the county’s health services, meaning it would not form a review board to scrutinise the plans in detail and make recommendations on how the proposals could be improved.

While the proposals were generally welcomed by the committee, there were some questions raised about how the new building would fit in with plans to create a ‘new hospital’ in Eastbourne.

Eastbourne councillor Alan Shuttleworth (Lib Dem) said: “The benefits are very clear in terms of cutting delay time, additional surgery capacity, reducing waiting lists and less cancellations, reductions in infection.

“All of that is very positive as far as I can see and I am sure will be welcomed by those people who are waiting for day surgery as there are many waiting at this time.”

But he questioned how this fit in with Boris Johnson’s announcement of a new hospital for the town.

In response, NHS representatives said the option of a total rebuild of the DGH ‘remained on the table’, but said other options including a full refurbishment and creation of new buildings were also being considered.

Bexhill and Conquest Hospital are also expected to see some new buildings and refurbishment work, respectively, as part of this project.

The elective surgery hub was described as ‘option agnostic’. In other words it is intended to fit in with whatever final form the ‘new hospital’ plans take.

Hastings councillor Mike Turner (Lab), meanwhile, questioned why the new hub was not being built at the Conquest.

He said: “I look around me when I go to the Conquest Hospital and all I see are portacabins everywhere that gives the impression of something very temporary indeed. At Eastbourne, it is new build this and new build that. The Conquest hospital, to me, looks like it is being run down.”

In response, NHS representatives stressed that the project was partly intended to replace surgical theatres in need of significant maintenance at the DGH. They added that surgical theatres in a similar position at the Conquest had recently been refurbished.

Hubs are intended to reduce waiting lists by focussing on high volume routine surgeries.

In East Sussex, currently, such surgeries generally take place at Uckfield Community Hospital. The new hub would take around 29 per cent this caseload, which would come to around 179 day surgeries each year.

Generally speaking, patients would have to travel shorter distances to access these surgeries in Eastbourne instead of Uckfield. A small number of patients — the NHS says around seven a year — would have to travel further, however.

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust already has planning permission to create the building the new hub will be housed within.