The local community in Sussex and East Surrey is set to benefit from a new centralised pathology hub serving several hospital sites following c£19m of investment in the Surrey & Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.

The scheme will reduce delays in diagnosis and offer patients in the area more freedom to choose how they access services. This is part of a directive to consolidate pathology services which are unsustainable (financially & clinically) in individual trusts.

Crispin Blunt commented: “I am delighted at this new NHS investment proposal, in partnership with our three local NHS trusts, to build a 3 storey microbiology hub at the Princess Royal Hospital site in the middle of Sussex.

It will provide a clinically sustainable pathology service for constituents using East Surrey Hospital, linked to a teaching hospital, and able to attract and keep its clinical and operational workforce.

This is an excellent example of innovative practice in the NHS to produce significant economies of scale and increase productivity whilst keeping costs down.”