I start by thanking, through you, Madam Deputy Speaker, Mr Speaker for granting me this Adjournment debate. I know that it is unusual to allocate Adjournment debates to members of the shadow Cabinet, so I am grateful. I am delighted to be raising this important matter on behalf of my constituents. I appreciate it, and I hope that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, as my constituency neighbour, will appreciate it too.
Since July 2024, Uckfield community hospital has been entrusted to me as part of my changed constituency. It is one of two small but vital community hospitals in my area, the other being the award-winning Queen Victoria hospital in East Grinstead, which is going from strength to strength. We look forward to the completion of the community diagnostic centre in 2026. It is a buzzing, specialist community facility with great ratings and a vibrantly bright future. I thank all NHS staff in the various hospitals that cover my area, and the wider frontline staff who are there for us in times of need. As we approach the festive season, we are especially grateful to them.
So why do we have what feels like a fragile moment for the Uckfield community hospital? It has the same caring NHS staff and high ratings, but services have been taken from the site, including the formal site manager. Those removals give a sense of great unease. I will give a little history of the site, which, Madam Deputy Speaker, you will already know. A local benefactor back in the 1980s—Mr Arthur Hughes, a generous local farmer—gave the land and £1 million. The League of Friends then raised a further £1 million, which was matched by the NHS, for the people of Uckfield and the surrounding villages to see the facility delivered. The hospital was officially opened in 1993 by Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret. The bequest has the vital inclusion of an operating theatre. This can be found in the associated covenants, and it was especially for the small surgical aspects of local day care.
I have visited this fairly new, fresh-feeling, beautifully set and well-maintained community hospital on several occasions, and the welcome has always been warm and caring—local NHS staff taking great pride in their roles to support and administer to the local community. The League of Friends has long played an active part, and frankly a huge financial part, and has been a practical supporter of Uckfield hospital and the resident trust over the past years. Two examples recently include funding X-ray equipment to the tune of £186,000, and ultrasound machines at £60,000. It has not only supported the hospital, but offered extra funding to local GP surgeries, as it is the League of Friends’ philosophy that such funding benefits all local people.
The League of Friends has delivered plans to help upgrade the busy minor injuries unit on site. However, with the surgical unit now mothballed—in reality, it feels like it is closing—the uncertainty is just too much for the Friends. That is reflected in the emails that I have received in the past few weeks and months—even today, ahead of this debate. Local people are worried about the site. I hope that their fears will be allayed tonight.
I commend the hon. Lady for bringing forward this debate. I spoke to her beforehand, and I share her concerns. We have similar concerns in my constituency, where the minor injuries unit closed. The unit was crucial for constituents, and its closure meant that they had to travel further—for almost an hour—to get to the nearest urgent care centre. Does the hon. Lady agree that any future decisions on any unit across this nation should be grounded in the needs of patients, the benefits of local access and the essential role that community hospitals play in delivering a resilient NHS?
It is a pleasure to receive an intervention from the hon. Gentleman in an Adjournment debate, and I completely agree. That is exactly what tonight’s debate is about, and I thank him for adding to it.
Without a dedicated Uckfield hospital manager to pull it all together, the site has become fragmented—that is the feedback that I receive continually. I have repeatedly heard that none of the individual trusts seems to interact for the wider good of the hospital site and its patients. I have previously written to the Secretary of State for Health on this matter, as I am concerned that if any fire or substantial incident was found at the site, who ultimately would be responsible for the site as a whole and for ensuring health and safety for all?
Let me take you back, Madam Deputy Speaker. I visited the hospital on 4 October 2024 to meet Danielle Gearing, a staff nurse, to see for myself the services offered at the hospital and to find out what was actually happening on behalf of my constituents. Along with the minor injuries unit, there was a full and varied range of out-patient clinics, including oncology, rheumatology, chemical pathology, dermatology, vascular, oral and maxillofacial and neurology, to name a few. Most of these clinics did include the consultant, registrar and quite often a clinical nurse specialist.
Yet that list does not include the other service providers and facilities on the site, such as the health visiting team, diabetes nurses, diabetic eye screening, heart failure nurses, dietitians, cardiac rehab, Parkinson’s nurses and MS nurses. Macmillan is there. Bowel screening is there. There is hospice outreach and the AAA clinic—providing abdominal aortic aneurysm screening—and the list at Uckfield community hospital goes on.
Danielle confirmed that it is a very busy out-patient department, which we hope will continue. We should not forget that at that point the hospital also had a GP surgery, a pharmacy and a mental health facility on the site. The ambulance service also runs a site close to this facility, as you will know, Madam Deputy Speaker. I will say more on the pharmacy situation shortly.
The hon. Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield (Mims Davies) is a strong campaigner on behalf of Uckfield community hospital and its services, which my constituents in Sussex Weald will have used and would want to use, so I too look forward to hearing the Minister’s response.
Duly noted, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a pleasure to respond to the hon. Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield (Mims Davies). I begin by recognising the genuine concern of the residents of East Grinstead and Uckfield, which she has articulated so well, about the future of that local surgery unit. Such local facilities are really important to all our constituents, and it is right that we, as Members of Parliament, advocate on their behalf. She has ensured that her constituents’ voices have been heard both in Parliament and through her engagement with the NHS Sussex board and the integrated care board. We understand that it is difficult to keep pursuing such changes, but as we are all told in the House, we are used to being persistent.
Reducing waiting lists is a central part of the Government’s health mission. I reassure the hon. Lady and other colleagues that we are committed to putting patients first, ensuring timely treatment and bringing care closer to where people live. That is why in December 2024 we published our plan for change, setting out our commitment to return by March 2029 to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment.
We are seeing improvements, with more than 5 million additional appointments—more than double our election pledge—and working with the NHS we have cut waiting lists by over 230,000 since we came to office and delivered 135,000 more cancer diagnoses. In August, we confirmed that 100 community diagnostic centres across the country are offering out-of-hours services 12 hours a day, seven days a week, meaning that patients can access vital tests, scans and checks around their busy lives. There are also new surgical hubs, as we have heard, to help tackle the backlog.
Currently, the waiting list stands at 7.3 million patient pathways, with 6.2 million people waiting. That is what we need to change with our elective reform plan—our 10-year health plan is built on that—which has a key focus on improving access to healthcare for everyone and prioritising patient experience, ensuring that wherever people live in England, they will be seen, diagnosed and treated in a timely way, no matter what they earn. To help achieve that, we are investing £6 billion of additional capital investment over the next five years in diagnostic, elective, urgent and emergency capacity in the NHS.
7:22 pm
House adjourned.
The wonderful Linda Kenwood, the secretary of the League of Friends, has said poignantly:
“To be treated in this way is very upsetting.”
Out of the blue, in August 2024, the League of Friends received the following in a letter from Dr James Evans, a consultant in critical care and anaesthetics and medical examiner at East Sussex Healthcare NHS trust:
“I am writing to yourselves as a Consultant within East Sussex Healthcare Trust, and Deputy Divisional director of DAS, and as a Clinical Lead for Day Surgery.
I am hoping you will be able to help, and would be grateful if you could take some time to consider this email.
One of my roles is Clinical Lead responsible for the newly built Sussex Surgical Centre (SSC), which is looking to be functional in March 2025. This will be a surgical Hub aiming to improve day case surgery provision across the whole region and hopefully benefiting patients and staff in East Sussex.
Part of my role is related to equipment for the SSC, both ensuring we have the right stuff in place, and sourcing any essential items within a tight budget. Whilst engaged in this task, I have been made aware of some equipment within Uckfield Hospital that was kindly purchased by yourselves over the years. Some of this equipment is expensive and specialist, and extremely useful for the surgeons and whole…surgery team.
I know that equipment purchased by The Friends is intended for use solely within their Hospital, but I was hoping you may be able to consider making an exception at this time.
All of the equipment you have purchased (including a microscope, ultrasound machine and ECG machine) are incredibly expensive, but vital for the successful running of a DSU, and we are struggling within the constraints of our budget to purchase all of the equipment. As you know, the trust is in a dire financial position, and any help would be greatly appreciated.
The items in Uckfield would go a long way to facilitating the above and would be used on a daily basis within the SSC.
I am aware that I am asking a great deal from yourselves at this time but wonder if you may be open to further discussion on the subject.”
This, Madam Deputy Speaker, is literally taking the family jewels in plain sight. Chris Macve, chairman of the League of Friends of Uckfield community hospital, said of their concerns about the possible removal of services from our day surgery unit that they “as yet have had no official communication from East Sussex healthcare NHS trust.” There are still various unhelpful rumours and deep concerns about what was received in this letter from James Evans, and frankly there is still no clarity for the staff, the Friends and my constituents—and your constituents, Madam Deputy Speaker. For clarity, the Friends have said—this is what they know—that they “have not been told that this unit is fully closing, but you can understand our disbelief at the insensitivity and the lack of respect at receiving the news in this way. We have a perfectly good operating theatre at Uckfield, fully equipped and staffed, just sitting there doing virtually nothing.”
After a number of rumours increased on 7 October 2024, the hospital staff in the surgical day unit were told unofficially that the integrated care board had agreed to a six-month closure and that they should expect a meeting at the end of October or early November in 2024. As Members can imagine, this was a real shock and morale took a massive tumble. The pilot—the mothballing—began on 2 December 2024, just before Christmas last year, and I brought to the House my worries and concerns for my constituents at that time.
As Joe Chadwick-Bell, chief executive officer of East Sussex healthcare NHS trust, wrote at the time of the announcement:
“Uckfield DSU cannot safely support general anaesthetic or overnight care, and does not carry out surgical procedures on patients with a higher risk of complications, such as those with complex needs, certain disabilities, significant frailty and/or certain concurrent illnesses. In those cases, even day case procedures must be carried out in an acute hospital environment where the full scope of supporting clinical services is on site. Uckfield theatre sessions are not currently well used. The reason is partly due to the safety criteria mentioned above, but also partly because some of the procedures that we previously carried out at Uckfield are no longer commissioned by the NHS. It is also because advances in care mean many of those procedures no longer need day theatres, so are delivered in normal treatment rooms.
Over the course of the pilot, we will evaluate the impact of the changes and consider options for the future of day surgery at Uckfield. It is in all our interests to make the best use possible of what is a valued asset for the NHS in Sussex.”
This pilot is so unfair. Frankly, the surgical unit in Uckfield was condemned to not stand a chance—with no staff, no anaesthetists and treatment figures already manoeuvred by the East Sussex healthcare trust. That is the view of staff. Another blow to the staff at the unit came at the start of 2025, when Kamsons Pharmacy closed—and left, I understand, with some clouds over the terms of its departure. Frankly, why has this happened?
One year on, my residents are not taking this lying down. They have got together a local petition, which at present stands at 6,366 signatures. But it is the uncertainty that is causing local residents a great deal of stress and panic. I will be building on this petition after this debate. People need local services. They need family and friends nearby to help with operations, getting to the hospital and out of hospital, and they need care in the community—all of which this Government are committed to. My residents need answers.
I have had meetings, after much pleading, with three recent chief executive officers of the integrated care board: Adam Doyle, who personally promised me and my casework team updates in early August; Mark Smith; and the newly appointed chief executive officer of NHS Sussex, Karen McDowell, who I had the most recent meeting with last week. NHS England reorganisation and staff changes have left me and my casework team in the dark, just like my constituents under this Government, who I know are committed to local community services just as I am.
I stress again how important the day surgery unit is to providing local care. Uckfield hospital is a vital facility. It must not slip through our fingers. Its staff—some of whom have now retired or left in upset, anger and frustration—are worried. The CEO has kindly written to me since we met and said:
“I clearly heard the commitment of you and the local people for Uckfield community hospital, and am speaking to our commissioning teams who have been working with East Sussex healthcare NHS trust around their pilot specifically on day surgery but also—and likely more importantly—our terms working to develop neighbourhood care, and the potential for this asset within its work.”
I thank her for this letter and share it gratefully.
To recap for the Minister, a thriving surgical day unit has been mothballed. The manager of the hospital has been taken away and not replaced. Anaesthetists have been moved elsewhere and are not accessible. Patients are now directed to other surgical sites. Staff heard out of the blue of a six-month mothballing and were given roles miles away from Uckfield. The League of Friends’ assets have been stripped from the site. A year later, we are still in the dark, with no decision taken and no ICB head willing to put their head above the parapet. We need to know what comes next.
My well-loved hospital is a vital community service. Our town and area are growing at a rapid rate, with a significant amount of housing being built and due to be built. There is difficulty involved in getting around a rural area and there is an impact from the public having to get to Eastbourne.
Lots of people have moved from the coast and from London and have taken the opportunity to work locally, and they expect NHS services on the doorstep. That is why I am grateful to be in the Chamber this evening to ask the Minister to look at this vital matter for me and my constituents and to do all that she can. We need this facility to thrive, with the community hospital and its wide-ranging services backed to the hilt. Crucially, we want the Uckfield day surgery back doing what it should: operating.
I join the hon. Lady in thanking her local NHS staff for their work to make sure that these improvements are felt by local people. On her specific concerns regarding the trialled closure of the day surgery unit, which as she said is run by East Sussex healthcare NHS trust, I understand how unsettling the decision feels for many people, including the public and, as she articulated, the staff. In preparation for the debate, I met the local NHS leaders. I am grateful to them for their time and their briefing on these issues. It is important to hear from people on the ground on these matters.
Our 10-year plan commitment to move care into the community is a priority for the Government, as the hon. Lady said, but it does need to be coupled with pragmatism and what is best for patients. In this case, according to the latest data held by the trust, almost 90% of patients accessing relevant services at Uckfield live closer to the two main hospitals in Hastings and Eastbourne, and the proposal was therefore to relocate the day surgery unit activity to those two hospital sites. According to the trust, for most patients that would mean treatment closer to home than under the existing offer.
Secondly, the change was expected to increase the overall number of day surgery procedures available to more people, including the residents of Uckfield, so that they could receive surgery more quickly. Local leaders have taken that decision because it is critical to increase productivity in the NHS. By using both hospitals, local and general anaesthetic procedures can be offered in the same place, with greater provision for higher risk patients or those who need overnight stays.
I come on to the findings from the trial to date. Decisions to reorganise local provision are often a disappointment and difficult for many people. It is important that there is a strong case that the move is better for patients, productivity and value for taxpayers’ money. Following a six-month trial, the trust has found that patients did not report any decline in their experience following the move, and concerns were not raised about travel or access. I am told that the patient advice and liaison service has reviewed complaints from the pilot period and has had no negative feedback related to the pilot. The evaluation showed that the trust was able to increase capacity for elective procedures, improve the timeliness of pre-assessment, and provide greater flexibility to prioritise urgent, cancer and general anaesthetic cases. The initial analysis indicated that 88.3% of sampled patients were treated closer to their homes, with an average reduction in travel distance of 10.3 miles per journey.
The responsibility for delivery, implementation and funding decisions on services ultimately rests with the appropriate NHS commissioner rather than with the Government, working closely with providers and local stakeholders, and that includes local Members of Parliament. The ICB has a duty to consult the relevant local authority health overview and scrutiny committee about substantial changes to health services, and I have been informed that the trust is looking to share a paper with the committee in December.
All substantial planned service change should be subject to a full public consultation and meet the Government and NHS England’s tests to ensure good decision making. The hon. Lady made her points extremely about the League of Friends and its great work across the country and in her area. As well as putting this issue on the record, as she has done here, I will ensure that the local NHS addresses the issues that she has raised this evening.
It is important to note that the changes only affect the day surgery unit. I am assured by the local NHS that other services at Uckfield community hospital, which she outlined in her speech and which are central to our plans to make care more local and to provide neighbourhood services, will continue. The opening of the new Sussex surgical centre, which the hon. Lady talked about, backed by £40 million of investment, means that the trust will be able to provide better care for more patients closer to where most of them live.
In closing, may I add my thanks for the great work of the League of Friends? I thank the hon. Lady for raising this important issue and for her ongoing support for the Uckfield community. I know that she will continue to work with the local NHS on behalf of her constituents and we are happy to continue that discussion with her.