Kier appointed to deliver a new £60m mental health hospital in Bexhill-on-Sea

Kier has been appointed by the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to deliver a new £60m 54-bed acute inpatient mental health hospital in Bexhill as part of its Re-designing Inpatient Services in East Sussex (RIS:ES) Programme. This is the first step in the RIS:ES Programme which is aimed at providing all mental health inpatient services across East Sussex on a single site.

The 57,393 sq. ft facility will provide high-quality inpatient services for adults and will replace outdated services currently provided in the Department of Psychiatry at Eastbourne District General Hospital.

There will be three 18-bed wards, all with individual bedrooms and en suite bathrooms, surrounded by attractive and therapeutic landscaped green space. The new building will also provide outpatient services as well as training facilities for medical and other related professions.

The building will be fully electric and highly insulated, with energy-efficient systems being implemented to reduce energy usage and optimise environmental performance. The majority of the roof will include solar panels and a range of electric vehicle charging points will be installed for maintenance teams, staff and visitors.

In addition, the car park has ‘rain gardens’ that collect the surface water run-off, filtering it into a storm water attenuation tank before it is discharged directly into the ordinary watercourse. This prevents flooding and minimises impact on buildings and the environment.

Cheryl Parsons, regional director for Kier Construction Southern, said: “We are delighted to be appointed by Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to deliver this new mental health hospital, which will provide improved and modernised services to the East Sussex region.

“We look forward to using our wealth of experience and expertise to deliver this first-class health facility sustainably, benefitting the community for years to come.”

RIS:ES Programme Director, Paula Kirkland, said: "This is a major milestone for a Programme which has been almost four years in the making. We are now looking forward to working closely with Kier as full construction of the new facilities begins in earnest.

"When complete, the building will provide the people of East Sussex and beyond with state-of-the-art inpatient services which will offer the highest quality therapeutic care for those with serious mental health conditions." Kier is a leading provider of healthcare facilities for NHS Trusts. It has completed a transformation programme at Heatherwood Hospital in Ascot, the new diagnostic centre at Royal Brompton Hospital in Chelsea, and is currently on site delivering the new clinical buildings at Luton & Dunstable Hospital in Luton.