Update from East Sussex Community Health Services
Please be advised that we are maintaining local community health services as best we can in the face of the current adverse weather.
The Community Hospitals at Lewes, Uckfield, Crowborough, Bexhill and Rye are open as normal.
The Minor Injuries Units at Lewes, Uckfield and Crowborough are also operating as normal, from 8am to 8pm, every day of the week.
We are prioritising home visits to patients by our community nursing teams.
The East Sussex Emergency Dental Service (EDS) will be operating an emergency clinic at Hailsham this evening –
tel 01323 449170
We are unable to offer the regular clinic at the Arthur Blackman Clinic in St Leonards after the building suffered water damage and heating problems.
We have also had to cancel the EDS clinic at Lewes.
Updates from other NHS organisations
- South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SECAmb) is focusing its efforts on getting to those patients who need help the most.
The trust’s efforts to get to patients are being significantly hampered due to the snowy and icy conditions.
While the number of calls is not significantly increasing, the trust is struggling to get to emergencies quickly.
SECAmb said it may take a little longer than normal to reach people in areas where snow is particularly heavy or roads are icy.
- All outpatient clinics have been cancelled at Eastbourne District General Hospital and the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards.
Hospital managers say they want to ensure that patients do not feel they have to make journeys to our hospitals until it is safe to travel.
However the hospitals will continue to see emergency cases.
- Patients with appointments at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath are being advised to call before setting out.
A hospital spokeswoman says every effort is being made to get staff in, including using 4x4 vehicles to pick them up, but it was likely many services would be cancelled.
The number to call is 01273 696955, ext 4993.
