I recently visited the construction site of the new mental health hospital in Bexhill which is being built on Mount View Road in north Bexhill, opposite the new Bovis & Vistry homes estate.
When the Bexhill to Hastings Link Road was originally built, the funding for road came on the basis that it would also deliver sites for housing growth and other building space. It is one of those sites which has proved ideal for the new mental health hospital. Located directly between Eastbourne and Hastings, it is an accessible location for patients across East Sussex.
The hospital is being built by the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust - they provide mental health services supporting and treating over 32,000 adults and children each year across East and West Sussex and Brighton and Hove.
Before visiting the Bexhill hospital site, I had the pleasure of meeting the senior leadership team of the Trust at their inpatient unit at Eastbourne DGH including their CEO, Jane Padmore, Chair, Paul Duggan, Chief Operating Officer, John Child and Chief Medical Officer, Dr Oliver Dale I was joined by my colleagues Josh Babarinde, MP for Eastbourne and James Cleary, MP for Lewes.
We discussed the range of services provided by the Trust and the challenges they face in delivering high quality care and what they are trying to do to improve.
The Trust has seen higher demand for their services post-Covid for both adult and child mental health. It has also seen an increase in adult neurodiverse referrals across East Sussex.
They face an enormous challenge in responding to the extraordinary increase in referrals for ADHD and autism assessments across East Sussex. The waiting list is more than 7000 patients and this is rising by over 100 per month.
Referrals to CAMHS (Child and Adult Mental Health Services) for other types of needs have also increased post-Covid. Work to improve referral waits for the core CAMHS community service has reduced the waiting list from 236 in March 2023 to 48 in March 2025 and the average waiting time is now 18 days.
But for me, all these challenges raise the question of how we tackle the underlying causes and, if we are seeing such a big increase in demand, how we mainstream and manage things like ADHD and autism in everyday settings at home and school. I can’t imagine the long waits for assessment are going to come down in the short term – not least because it will take time to expand the workforce – so I think we have to consider how parents and families can be supported to manage better in the interim.
Like all NHS organisations, the Trust faces financial challenges in the medium and longer term. However, the leadership team explained to us that they have transformation and change plans in place to improve access to services, reduce waiting times and deliver improved outcomes for patients across all of their services which is already showing results. However, for some patients, in the shorter term there will still be longer waiting times for diagnosis and treatment.
After our meeting, we were given a tour of the in-patient facilities at Eastbourne hospital. Whilst I could see that everything possible is done to support in-patients at this setting, this type of dormitory ward is not conducive to mental health recovery. This is why this facility will be closed when the new Bexhill hospital is opened.
For most people with mental health illness, community care is the best option. It allows people to remain at home, in a familiar environment and with the support of family and friends. However, for around 70-80 people each month, a hospital stay is necessary. For those patients, the new 54-bed mental health hospital in Bexhill has been carefully designed with wellness and recovery at its core. Each wing is made up of separate bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, so every patient has privacy. Safety and security of patients is evident in every detail of the design. There is lots of outside space, sensory gardens to help aid recovery and welcoming, calm communal space for patients and visitors.
As well as benefitting patients, the new hospital in Bexhill will provide highly skilled jobs and training opportunities. These opportunities have already started as the construction partners, Kier, have been providing apprenticeships throughout the building programme.
The hospital will be completed towards the end of this year, it will be user-tested by volunteers from the Trust to iron out any issues before opening to patients in early 2026. I am delighted that we have such a well-designed hospital facility in Bexhill which will provide high quality treatment and support to local residents. I look forward to attending the official opening and seeing the completed hospital later this year.
