Patients recovering from hip operations face a 20-mile trip to a specialist unit after it was revealed a hospital ward is set to close.

Nineteen orthopaedic beds at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton will be closed.

Patients will instead be taken to a ten-bed rehabilitation unit at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.

A 30-day consultation period looking at the plans has now been launched.

Under the proposals more beds at the Royal Sussex and up to 15 orthopaedic staff could be "displaced" - or forced to move to another hospital or take on new roles.

The orthopaedic trauma wards at the Royal Sussex have up to now looked after patients who have undergone hip surgery.

Bosses at Brighton and Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, said the unit at the Princess Royal will be dedicated to after-care for these patients with more specialised care and services.

But staff and patient forums said it would be traumatic to take mainly elderly patients on the 20-mile journey so soon after an operation.

Staff also fear there will be job cuts as those trained in orthopaedics - specialists in bone and joint disorders - did not necessarily want to transfer to another hospital.

Janice Kent, from the independent patient and public involvement forum for Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, said she was impressed with the quality of the orthopaedic ward at the Princess Royal.

But she said she was concerned at the permanent loss of the orthopaedic beds.

She said: "What strikes me as a problem is that some of these patients being whisked away to Haywards Heath will be from Brighton. If they are elderly a lot of their relatives will be elderly and it will be hard for them to get there to visit them. It is also a concern that we are moving fragile patients around so much.

"We are playing musical chairs with elderly patients. I am just not a fan of this hot cold split - emergency surgery in Brighton and rehab in Haywards Heath - although I think the orthopaedic department at Haywards Heath is very good."

One member of staff, who asked not to be named, said: "We just don't know where we are now. We don't want to work on other wards - we are trained in orthopaedics and it doesn't work like that.

"Also we should be opening wards not shutting them down and losing beds.

"These people are going to have to travel away from their home rather than be looked after in their local hospital. It is outrageous."

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust said: "These changes are about improving care for patients.

"These patients do not need to be on an orthopaedic trauma ward following their operations and the new unit would provide them with dedicated, specialist support in a calmer and more appropriate environment.

"This will improve the quality of the care they receive and help them recover more quickly.

"These changes are about providing the best care to patients by working as one hospital on two sites and making the best use of the space we have.

"They are being phased in gradually, are already working extremely well and no staff will be made redundant as a result of these new ways of working."

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