Two bids for Southlands Hospital’s Harness Block taken forward

Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the hospital in Upper Shoreham Road, Shoreham, has received two formal expressions of interest in the building.

Both want to use the site for “health or social care”.

Now, the trust has asked for more details.

Trust chief executive Marianne Griffiths said: “Our challenge is to see if other organisations can use the site for health or social care, now it has been established the site is no longer appropriate for the acute inpatient care our trust provides.

“That is certainly the outcome we would want to see, if it can be done.

“I sincerely hope these bids can be developed into serious proposals for the future of the Harness Block.

“We must be realistic, and accept we cannot sell off public assets lightly, but, nonetheless, we would be delighted to see either of the two expressions of interest being developed into genuine, viable blueprints for the future of the Harness Block.”

A spokesman for the trust said it was committed to retaining the rest of the Southlands site as a hospital facility and the process of deciding which services would be based there was underway.

“A new ophthalmology centre will be at the heart of the facility, and design work on that has now begun,” he said.

In his newsletter, MP Tim Loughton said he would be willing to meet with trust executives and hospital campaigners, who want to see the block retained as a community hospital, once further details are released.

Get in touch

Did you put a bid in for the Harness Block?

You can get in touch by emailing [email protected].