Councillors Pursue Brighton A & E Overcrowding And Safety Concerns

Two councillors who lead on health and social care are raising residents’ concerns about accident and emergency (A&E) services at the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

Labour councillors Bruno De Oliveira, who chairs Brighton and Hove City Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board, and Tristram Burden, who leads on adult social care, have written to the council’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee which is due to meet next tomorrow (Wednesday, 10th April).

At the meeting, councillors are expected to review the recent Care Quality Commission (CQC) report after an inspection of surgery and medical care core services at the Royal Sussex, in Eastern Road, Brighton.

The CQC inspectors said that the care provided by staff was outstanding but, in every other respect, the services required improvement.

Councillors De Oliveria and Burden want the committee to quiz hospital trust chief executive George Findlay about issues in A&E when he answers questions about the inspection.

Their letter said:

"Multiple people have expressed concerns to us about the situation at A&E.

"These include general overcrowding and specifically a lack of safe spaces for frail or vulnerable patients.

"We understand that a side corridor is meant to be used as a quiet space but that, in practice, this is frequently employed to manage disruptive patients.

"This has meant that there is effectively no quiet space for vulnerable patients.

"We have also been told that A&E can be so noisy and chaotic that patients waiting for an initial assessment are unable to hear their names being called and that people have missed being seen for this reason.

"We recognise that the (Royal Sussex) is an intensely pressured environment.

"We also recognise that the trust has medium-term plans to restructure its emergency department to provide a better environment for patients and staff.

"However, we are very concerned that, in the short term, not enough is being done to manage A&E and that seriously ill people may be deterred from seeking urgent help because of worries about their safety within the hospital."

The CQC last inspected A&E in 2022 when the department was downgraded from “good” to “requires improvement”.

The Royal Sussex is run by University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, and Dr Findlay took over as chief executive in June 2022.

The council’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 4pm tomorrow, Wednesday 10th April.

The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.