PATIENTS will be able to testify in court from their hospital bed thanks to a network of video links across Sussex.

Witnesses, victims and even defendants who are being treated at Hellingly mental health hospital and need to appear in magistrates’ courts will be able to make use of the set-up in a bid to save time, money and make the justice system more efficient.

It follows plans already in place which allow police officers and other witnesses to give evidence in court through webcams from other dedicated rooms around the county so they do not have to travel.

Hellingly will make £1,300 in savings per visit because it will no longer have to cover the cost of hiring a secure ambulance to take a patient to court for every hearing.

This also free hours of staff time, reducing pressure on the wards because staff will be able to spend time caring for patients rather than waiting at court.

For patients, it also reduces the stress of appearing in court.

There will still be cases, such as summary trials, when appearing in court is unavoidable.

At present the video link is used for plea and direction hearings, which often only require a short appearance from the defendant but incur high costs and significant staff time.

The project will see live links in 14 police stations: Bognor, Crowhurst Road and John Street in Brighton, Worthing, Chichester, Crawley, Eastbourne, Hastings, Haywards Heath, Horsham, Lewes, Littlehampton, Rye and Uckfield.

There will also be links in the six custody centres across the county.

The move was made possible by money from the police innovation fund secured by Sussex police and crime commissioner Katy Bourne and could mean the force saving £5 million in travel and overtime costs as well as time.

This is calculated on the basis of an average five-and-a-half hours spent by an officer attending court whether they give evidence or not.

Ms Bourne said: “The interests of victims and witnesses must come first.

“Victims often suffer anxiety about their court appearances and witnesses often do not appear because of the personal negative impact on their lives.

“We owe it to the people who have the courage to report crimes and those who will testify on their behalf to make this a more comfortable process.”

Sussex Police Detective Superintendent Nick May said: “Giving evidence to court is an essential part of a police officers’ job and anything that supports the valuable work of magistrates’ court is positive.”