'Health hub' plans for Brighton General Hospital site

After plans for a new secondary free school on the site fell through, an NHS Trust is now looking at how best to redevelop the site.

Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust (SCFT) has today (May 9) unveiled plans for the old buildings, which date back to the 1860s and were once used as a Victorian workhouse.

The Trust, which provides health services in homes, clinics and hospitals across Sussex, said the buildings are 'no longer fit for the delivery of modern health and care services' and has laid out a range of options for the East Brighton site.

Siobhan Melia, chief executive of SCFT, said: “We are really excited about the future, creating a purpose-built community hub in the heart of Brighton will ensure the local NHS continues to thrive. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to improve things for the many thousands of people who rely on our services and the 5,000 staff that make up our Trust.”

The options for the site would see buildings, around 50 per cent of which are empty or unused, converted into local housing, while providing space to create a new hub to house SCFT’s clinical services in one place.

The Trust has launched a public consultation to gather views about the proposals before any decisions are made.

On June 7, from 3pm until 6pm, the Trust will hold a public drop-in event at the Brighthelm Centre to discuss its plans.

The Trust hopes to take a preferred proposal to health regulator NHS Improvement later this year.

Patients and the public are encouraged to complete this survey: bit.ly/BGCHHPublic and vote for their preferred redevelopment option by June 21.

For more on the proposals, click here.