Hospital type District General Phone +44 1903 205111 Beds approx 500 Care system Public NHS | Lists Hospitals in England Founded 1829 Emergency department Yes Accident & Emergency | |
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Similar St Richard's Hospital, East Worthing railway st, Conquest Hospital, East Surrey Hospital, Royal Alexandra Hospital Profiles | ||
Worthing Hospital is a medium-sized District General Hospital (DGH) located in Worthing, West Sussex, England. It has approximately 500 beds. It provides a full range of general acute hospital services including A&E, maternity, outpatients, day surgery and intensive care. It is also home to the West Sussex Breast Screening service. The hospital is now run by Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which also runs Southlands Hospital in Shoreham-by-Sea and St Richard's Hospital in Chichester. It was previously run by Worthing & Southlands Hospitals NHS Trust, which merged with the Royal West Sussex NHS Trust in April 2009. In July 2013 it became a Foundation Trust.
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The hospital is located just north-east of Worthing town centre, between Homefield Park and Beach House Park.
History
Worthing's first hospital was a dispensary created in 1829 in Ann Street. A new dispensary was set up in 1845 in Chapel Road, which when enlarged in 1860 became known as the Worthing Infirmary and Dispensary. The Worthing Infirmary and Dispensary moved to the current site in Lyndhurst Road in 1882 and was given the name Worthing Hospital in 1902. The Princess Royal opened the hospital's new East Wing in 1998.
In 2001 a £1.3m Children’s Centre opened, enabling almost all children’s healthcare needs to be met under one roof.
The hospital was threatened with downsizing or closure as part of the NHS Strategic Health Authority's 'Fit For The Future' proposal. A series of marches and protest events were held in both Worthing and Chichester against the plans. In June 2008, the West Sussex Primary Care Trust Board recommended that Worthing Hospital be the 'major general hospital' for West Sussex and that St Richard's Hospital in Chichester be downgraded. The recommendation is that services should be centralised at Worthing and moved away from St Richard's Hospital. In October 2008, the Trust Boards of Worthing and Southlands NHS Trust and the Royal West Sussex NHS Trust agreed ‘in principle’ to a merger. The merger went ahead and formed one organisation called 'Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust' which manages St Richard's, Worthing and Southlands hospitals.
In 2011 the Hospital invested £14 Million building a children's A&E, two new wards and an outpatients department. It has since built a new Breast Screening Unit.
In 2014 the Trust opened the new £7.1m Emergency Floor
In 2015 the trust opened a new £6.5m Endoscopy Unit.
Ratings
Worthing Hospital was praised for its standard of care in a recent report (2011) by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). In the report, entitled Review of Compliance, the CQC said the hospital met "all the essential standards of quality and safety". Inspectors stated those who used the service benefited from safe quality care, treatment and support due to "effective decision making" and the "management of risks to their health, welfare and safety". The Trust as a whole (Worthing, Southlands and St Richard's hospitals) had no cases of MRSA bloodstream infection throughout the whole of 2011. At the time of writing (Feb 2012) this is still the case.
In April 2014 the maternity Unit at Worthing and St Richard's was awarded the prestigious ‘level three’ award for the Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts (CNST) – effectively a recognition that staff deliver a service for mums which is considered to pose the lowest possible risk.
In 2014 the CQC reported that 'All standards were being met when we inspected the service.' These standards were as follows, Treating people with respect and involving them in their care, Providing care, treatment and support that meets people's needs, Caring for people safely and protecting them from harm, Staffing, Quality and suitability of management.
In 2016 Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WSHFT) has been rated as 'Outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). At the time it was one of only three acute trusts in the country to receive the health watchdog’s highest rating.