Delivering £420m facility we deserve (From The Argus)
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Delivering £420m facility we deserve
11:40am Tuesday 31st January 2012 in Comment and Analysis By Duncan Selbie
Last year I asked the city of Brighton and Hove a question.
I wanted to know whether it wanted to have a state-of-the-art brand new teaching hospital that would become a major centre not just for the city but for the rest of the county and across the south- east.
Or did it want to continue with a hospital housed in ageing and unsuitable buildings that were built before Florence Nightingale became a nurse?
It was up to the city to decide.
As we now know, on Friday, the answer from the city was to give the go-ahead for our ambitious £420m plans for the Royal Sussex.
The fact their decision was unanimous has been such a vote of confidence for Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals and I could not be more delighted.
When I first arrived at the hospital in July 2007 I was genuinely shocked when I saw inside and how small, cramped and totally unsuitable many of the wards were.
Replacing these buildings and providing the city with a hospital it needs and deserves was something we were determined to do.
The treatment and care provided and the importance always of compassion and kindness is always our first concern but the fabric of the building itself needed to change.
This gave us a unique opportunity to really come up with something that would have numerous benefits in so many ways.
Not only would we have brand new buildings that would help us expand on the top-class healthcare we already provide for cancer patients, emergency care and major trauma, and in our neurosciences, but the investment would bring long overdue improvements for our highest priorities, general medicine and care of the very elderly.
It would also encourage top doctors and nurses and other essential professionals to move to the city.
Along with our medical school this will attract the best students and the best researchers and scientists to work in hospital surroundings to be proud of.
Being given the green light shows us the city is committed and this will bring credit to Brighton and Hove.
The council has done its job, now it’s time for us to do ours and get the hospital built.
It has taken more than three years of hard work behind the scenes, with many meetings and discussions being held with planning officers, councillors, residents, societies and other interest groups.
We changed our plans and designs many times to try and find the best compromise.
This included increasing the number of car parking spaces we were originally planning to provide and placing the helipad on the top of the Thomas Kemp Tower.
We have done everything possible to mitigate the impact the construction work will have on the local area and we will continue to run our hospital liaison committee to keep local people up to date throughout.
If I’m honest, I would have really preferred to have been at this stage and doing this a year ago, but we now need to crack on.
The scheme that has finally been approved is very much better than where we started and all credit and thanks must go to all of those involved with it and who stuck with us and helped us.
We have arranged to carry out the building work in three stages because organising the construction in this way will allow the hospital to continue operating as a major acute hospital throughout the redevelopment.
The hospital will now begin preparations for the redevelopment which will include putting up two temporary buildings on site and preparing St Mary’s Hall to become the administration and management hub for the hospital.
Once the reconfiguration of the site is completed main construction will start on Stage 1 in the early summer of 2013.
This building, the larger of the two new facilities, will house the majority of the improved services and be complete in 2017.
Stage 2, which will contain the new Sussex Cancer Centre and be topped with accessible roof gardens, will be complete in 2020.
This is an historic moment for the NHS and for our patients and staff, and will benefit countless thousands of people for decades to come.
It will bring investment of almost half a billion pounds which will generate jobs, revenue for local businesses and create a teaching hospital befitting the population we serve.
The city has said yes. They have done their bit.
This is a proper strategic moment for the city and for the south east and we remain very confident that this will get done.
This is an absolutely fantastic opportunity for the city.
The onus is now back on us and we have been given a huge vote of confidence.
I intend to deliver on that.
