NHS trust slashes waiting list by 18.5%

An NHS trust covering parts of East Sussex and West Sussex said it has reduced its waiting list by 18.5%.

The University Hospitals Sussex NHS Trust said the number of "people waiting for a planned hospital appointment, treatment or service" fell from 149,000 to 121,500 in the 12 months to December 2024.

"Clearly, too many people are waiting too long to access hospital services," said chief executive Dr George Findlay, adding: "I wish to apologise to everyone who continues to wait for treatment at one of our hospitals."

But he said it was important to "acknowledge and commend the hard work and innovations of our teams in Sussex".

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Dr Findlay said hospital teams had been working evenings and weekends to see "as many patients as safely and swiftly as possible".

This meant the trust was seeing nearly a fifth more people in its hospitals than before the COVID pandemic, he continued.

The trust said it achieved the reduction by improving how waiting lists were managed and communication with patients.

It said it also worked differently with providers, helped more patients be seen in the community, increased activity and had more outpatient appointments.

Dr Findlay said he was "exceptionally proud to work alongside so many compassionate, skilled and dedicated colleagues".

He thanked them "for everything they are doing to reduce waiting times and provide excellent care, day in, day out for our patients".

It comes amid an investigation by Sussex Police into preventable deaths and injuries at the trust between 2015 and 2021.

In December 2023, four whistleblowers told the BBC that patients had died unnecessarily while others were "effectively maimed" while under its care.

Philippa Slinger, who chairs the trust, previously said she offered her "sincere apologies and sympathy to those involved".

An investigation by the Royal College of Surgeons found one of the trust's general surgery departments was operating in "a culture of fear" where bullying and harassment from management was rife.

The University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust runs hospitals or services in Haywards Heath, Brighton, Chichester, Shoreham-by-Sea, Lewes, Hove and Worthing.

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