Political opinion with Alison Griffiths MP: Littlehampton's voice wins a real result for local healthcare
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In her weekly column for Sussex World, Alison Griffiths – MP for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton – updates residents on her campaign over the former Littlehampton Hospital site.
This summer I launched a campaign to try to stop the sale of the former Littlehampton Hospital site on Fitzalan Road. Residents had understandably had enough of hearing about decisions on local health assets second hand, and many, myself included, wanted to see this land protected for the community.
I have to be honest with residents: we did not stop the sale. NHS Property Services has confirmed the land was declared surplus by the local NHS system back in 2024, and marketing began earlier this year. That was not a decision I could reverse from the opposition benches.
But campaigning is not only about winning outright. It is also about making sure that when a decision cannot be changed, what happens next is shaped by local pressure.
Over the summer I wrote formally to NHS Property Services, NHS Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Board, and Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, and met NHS leaders to press them on exactly where any money from a sale would go.
That pressure has paid off. NHS Property Services has now given a written commitment that 100% of the net proceeds from the sale will be reinvested in local healthcare. Formally, spending will be guided by the ICB's strategic priorities, but I have been told this means funding improvements to Littlehampton Health Centre as part of the new Neighbourhood Health Strategy, and I will be pressing for a firm, published plan.
This is not everything residents wanted. But it is a genuine result: money that could easily have disappeared into a much wider NHS budget will instead stay here, in Littlehampton, funding the health services people actually use.
I will continue pressing NHS leaders until we see a clear timetable for this investment, and I will keep residents updated as the sale progresses. Littlehampton deserves nothing less.