I have written to Siobhan Melia, Chief Executive of Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, after discovering that land at the former Littlehampton Hospital site is being marketed for sale.
I am astonished that I learned about this through the Mayor of Littlehampton, rather than from local NHS leaders. The land has been placed on the open market without any direct notification to me and, as far as I can establish, without any proper explanation or engagement with residents.
The 0.68-acre site is being advertised for £895,000, with interest invited from residential and commercial developers. This cannot be treated as an ordinary property transaction. Littlehampton Hospital closed more than 20 years ago, and residents were assured that replacement healthcare provision would follow. That promise was never fulfilled.
Local people have already watched one community hospital disappear. They are now facing the permanent loss of inpatient services and beds at Zachary Merton Hospital in Rustington. For the NHS to market the remaining Littlehampton land quietly, while the future of Zachary Merton remains unresolved, shows an extraordinary disregard for the history of both sites and the strength of local feeling.
My position is unequivocal. Every penny of the net proceeds from this sale should remain within Bognor Regis and Littlehampton, with Zachary Merton Hospital given first call on that investment. The money should support its repair, redevelopment, and reopening as a functioning community hospital.
NHS Property Services’ published policy already provides for 50 per cent of the net proceeds from qualifying disposals to be reinvested in the local health economy. In this case, that should be the minimum. I have asked the Trust, the ICB, and NHS Property Services to establish a lawful mechanism through which the entire net receipt can remain in Eastern Arun.
I have also demanded a full explanation of who declared the land surplus, what assessment was undertaken of alternative healthcare uses, why residents and elected representatives were not informed, and precisely where the proceeds will go. The sale should not proceed until those questions have been answered and a binding local reinvestment plan has been agreed.
Residents also raised serious concerns at my Zachary Merton public meeting about money previously raised, donated, or earmarked for replacement healthcare provision in Littlehampton. More than two decades later, there is still no clear public account of what happened to it. I have requested a complete audit trail. Money intended for local healthcare cannot simply disappear into the system without explanation.
The NHS has already broken one promise to Littlehampton. It must not use the sale of that hospital land to help break another in Rustington. I have requested a substantive response within ten working days and an urgent meeting with all three NHS organisations. If satisfactory answers are not provided, I will pursue this directly with Ministers and in Parliament.
