New theatres open at Haywards Heath’s Princess Royal Hospital: £7 million upgrade finished

University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust said more patients can now be treated quickly, giving them a better experience and helping to cut post-Covid waiting lists.

The work began more than two years ago but the Covid pandemic delayed the plans for the project.

“The theatres needed some TLC, ” said Sarah French, senior clinical theatre manager at PRH, which is part of University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust.

“The whole environment needed modernising,” she said.

“We are now using laminar flow system across the four theatres,” she added, saying that this means the theatres can be used in a flexible way to carry out more operations.

“We can see more patients in much better environments, leading to a better experience for patients and the people treating them,” said Sarah.

She said that a consistent, standardised environment across all PRH theatres makes theatre work safer too.

The PRH theatres were all more than 30 years old, and the new hi-tech rooms will now provide medical and nursing students with ‘live’ training that wasn’t available before.

UHSussex is one of the largest teaching Trusts in the country so the modernisation means an improved learning experience for students from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, who train at the hospitals across the Trust.

“There are high-tech cameras in the lighting,” added Sarah.

“This means that patients can participate in the educational needs of our students, as the students can watch the operations, securely, live on nearby screens,” she said.

“In time we hope to make this a virtual experience they can experience in the classroom.”

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