Earlier this year, it was confirmed that a new cancer care centre is to be built at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.
The Sussex Cancer Centre is due to open in 2029 and expects to welcome more than 60,000 patients a year.
The new quarter of a billion-pound investment will feature high-precision radiotherapy clinics, as well as an expanded outpatient clinic, assessment areas, a day unit and wards.
Plans for the centre, submitted in 2012 and approved, initially included a two-floor basement car park. However, due to funding changes, this was later removed.
The centre is due to open in 2029 and expects to welcome more than 60,000 patients a year. (Image: NHS University Hospitals Sussex)
With news of the plans going ahead and work set to begin, this has resurfaced concerns over the level of parking available for the new centre.
The NHS University Hospitals Sussex Trust, which manages the Royal Sussex, said that with the move to a park and ride service for staff and 98 new spaces beneath the Louisa Martindale building, it assured there will be sufficient parking.
However, Dawn Barnett, former Conservative councillor and long-term Brighton resident, fears that this isn’t enough and shared how she believes the centre should have never been approved without the basement car park.
She said: “They should have gone back to the original plans and had parking at the centre. It’s a stupid idea not to.”
The Trust said as part of their green plan it promotes a reduction in car movement around the hospital. It added that public transport subsidies and improved facilities for cyclists are also provided.
Ms Barnett argues that any suggestion of cancer patients taking public transport is “inconsiderate” and not a viable solution.
Ms Barnett said: “I think it’s selfish and inconsiderate. People needing cancer care, need to get to the department easily – not having to try and get buses or be parked all the way out in the streets.
“The parking should be there; you shouldn’t have to drive around looking for it. You shouldn’t have to be parked all the way up in the streets.”
She added: “People will be coming from all around Sussex, not just Brighton.
“Those people going to the cancer centre need as much help as they can get.”
Dawn Barnett criticised the decision to remove the basement car park (Image: NQ)
She also highlighted her experiences of parking at the hospital, describing it as “always bad”.
Ms Barnett said: “One day cancer will effect most people’s mother, father, children.
“People have to realise we are all going to get older, it’s selfish not to have the parking there.”
Surveys taken by the Trust said that current on-site parking indicate sufficient available capacity to accommodate the demand generated by the new centre, with the current plan increasing the overall number of public and staff car parking provided from 508 in 2012, to 1,006 now.
Dr Sarah Westwell, consultant clinical oncologist and Chief of Service for Cancer at University Hospitals Sussex, said: “We are delighted that £250 million of investment has been secured for a new Cancer Centre for Sussex at Royal Sussex County Hospital, which will transform care for patients and their families by bringing modern facilities, advanced technology and more services together in one place as a Centre for Excellence.
“This is a game changer for cancer care across the region, and as part of the wider redevelopment of the hospital site, we want to reassure our patients, their families, and the public that parking has been prioritised.
“While there were some historic concerns about changes to the original car parking plans from 2012, a great deal has changed since then, including 98 new public spaces beneath the Louisa Martindale Building and moving staff parking off site to 530 park-and-ride spaces – meaning overall parking dedicated to patients has increased while supporting access to the new Cancer Centre’s expanded services.”
The Trust assured that sufficient parking will be available (Image: NHS University Hospitals Sussex)
Councillor Bella Sankey, Leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, added: “It is important to recognise the undoubted benefits this new cutting-edge cancer centre will bring and we were delighted when the government gave the go-ahead for this facility to be built here in Brighton & Hove.
“This much needed healthcare facility will provide speedy access and the best possible treatment for people facing the challenges of a cancer diagnosis in our city and wider region.
“I do understand concerns around parking but know that when planning permission was granted by the council last year, members were reassured by the hospital’s commitment to providing 550 off-side spaces for staff.
“A study into use of the basement car park at the Louisa Martindale building next door also found at least 40 parking spaces available at peak times, with a condition attached restricting the use of this basement car park to patients and visitors only and not staff.
“As such, although on-site parking and patient transport is the responsibility of the hospital, not the council, we remain confident sufficient measures are in place and look forward to the centre opening.”