Eastbourne Gets New Hospital In £3.7bn Government Plans

Additional healthcare facilities are to be built or refurbished in St. Leonards, Bexhill and Brighton, too.

The promise from the government is contained in its new "Health Infrastructure Plan", which contains plans for 40 new hospitals, nationally, to be completed by the year 2030.

In Sussex, the plans state:

• a new hospital will be provided in Eastbourne,
• new medical wards and refurbishment will take place at The Conquest in St. Leonards,
• Bexhill will get a "new clinical building", and
• the Royal Sussex County Hospital will receive a regional centre for teaching, trauma and tertiary care.

Downing Street called its scheme the "biggest hospital building programme in a generation".

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

"We protected the NHS through the peak of coronavirus.

"Today we recommit to protect the NHS for years to come with the 40 new hospitals we will build over the next decade.

"I love the NHS and I will do all I can to make sure it is there for you and your family over the years to come. 

"Alongside this, as announced last year, 20 hospitals will receive a share of £850 million to upgrade outdated facilities and equipment, with enabling works already beginning at several sites."

Hospital services in Eastbourne, Bexhill and St. Leonards are provided by the East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.

Its chief executive Joe Chadwick-Bell said:

"We are delighted to be part of the second phase of the Government's Healthcare Infrastructure Project which will see a significant investment in Bexhill, Eastbourne and Conquest hospitals over the next 10 years.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform the environment in which we provide care at ESHT.

"It will mean a complete redesign of our aging hospitals, taking advantage of new technologies and improvements in healthcare to ensure that we can meet the future needs of our communities."