Southlands Hospital set for out-patients only role

Western Sussex Hospitals Trust is considering moving all in-patients to Worthing Hospital and turning Southlands into an outpatients-only centre.

At the start of the month, staff at Southlands were contacted by director of strategy, Nick Fox, who outlined proposals for Southlands to provide services including day surgery, out-patients, physiotherapy and diagnostic services including x-rays.

The changes would mean the hospital would no longer have patients who need to stay overnight and could mean the loss of the much-praised Amber ward.

A spokesman for the trust said: "Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust is considering a new and clearly defined role for Southlands Hospital.

"It has been developing plans which are at a very early stage. Before making any final decision the trust will consult with staff and the community when the plans have been developed further."

Information sent to staff said the following options were being considered for the future: refurbishing the single-storey buildings that house out-patients at Southlands and the two-storey building that houses the day surgery unit and theatres, building new laminar flow theatres at Worthing Hospital, creating a medical, surgical and elderly care acute admissions area at Worthing and looking at the future of ophthalmology services.

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