Planning permission has been granted to Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to build a new 54-bed mental health hospital on a site in Mount View Street, Bexhill-on-Sea, to replace outdated services at the Department of Psychiatry in Eastbourne.
Funding is being made available under the national ‘Eradicating mental health dormitories’ programme. Construction on site is set to begin early in 2023, and to be completed by late 2024 / early 2025. The local Council simultaneously granted outline planning permission for a second phase on the same site, which could potentially provide a further 72 beds, depending on further funding becoming available in the future.
Programme Director, Paula Kirkland, said: "This decision is a major milestone towards implementing the first phase of our wider vision to create new, modern facilities to address all inpatient mental health needs on a single site for people across East Sussex and beyond. We are delighted Rother District Council's Planning Committee has agreed there is a need for a new mental health hospital, and that the land in Mount View Street is a suitable site. As the project progresses, we will continue to involve the local community, to ensure that not only will the new facilities provide high quality care, but also become a real asset to the Bexhill area.”
Dr Andrew Hodson, local Medical Director for East Sussex and Mental Health Lead for NHS Sussex, added: "The new hospital will not only remove outdated dormitory accommodation, replacing the current shared wards with individual rooms with ensuite bathrooms, but will also provide a modern and improved therapeutic environment for patients and create enough capacity to meet future inpatient needs.”
Gilling Dod Architects are the architects and interior designers for the development, with WSP providing multidisciplinary project management and engineering services, and Kier the Principal Supply Chain Partner.