Improvement plans unveiled for Chichester's St Richard's Hospital

The plans affect orthopaedics, elderly care and eye treatment services and this week Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust and the primary care trust NHS West Sussex launched a formal 12-week consultation programme.

Called Service Redesign for Quality, the plans include providing major orthopaedic operations close to critical care facilities and moving ophthalmology (eye) services from Worthing Hospital to new state-of-the-art locations at St Richard’s and Southlands hospitals. Elderly care will be provided in one place, ending the need for patients to be transferred between sites. There will also be new community beds, and extra support from GPs and other medical staff to support people in their own home.

Primary care trust NHS West Sussex said the aim was to make patients safer, reduce the number of times patients need to be transferred between the three hospitals and reduce the amount of time staff spend travelling between the sites.

A public meeting will take place at Mickerson Hall in the Chichester Medial Education Centre at St Richard’s Hospital on Tuesday, February 22, from 2pm until 4pm. Several other meetings will be taking place including one next Wednesday, February 9 from 2.30pm until 4.30pm at Arun Leisure Centre in Bognor Regis.

Medical director at NHS West Sussex, Dr Andrew Foulkes said: “These proposals will mean that patients across the area have safer, better services both in hospitals and near to their homes.

The plans have been shaped by hospital doctors, nurses, GPs and other clinicians, and we firmly believe that they will mean patients getting better, safer services.”

The public consultation will run from Monday, February 7, until April 29.

For more information and to leave comments see www.westernsussexhospitals.nhs.uk, [email protected] or call 01903 285222 x4038.