Brighton has a high HIV seroprevalence (13.7% in men who have sex with men) & has one of the largest cohorts of HIV positive individuals in the UK with approximately 1100 patients currently under follow up. Outpatient services are located at the Lawson Unit (at the RSCH site) & the dedicated inpatient & day treatment unit is based in the Elton John Centre (currently at the Brighton General Hospital site, although this is due to move to the RSCH in 2005).

The Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology provides a comprehensive service in the specialty. The Unit is based at the Royal Sussex County Hospital site with approximately 3500 deliveries per annum. The Neonatal unit is tertiary referral centre for the South Coast with 8 Intensive Care cots and 14 Special Care cots. The Labour ward consists of 10 delivery rooms, 2 high risk delivery rooms, a theatre and a pool birthing room. There is a post natal ward and antenatal ward as well as a fetal assessment unit. There are ultrasound and doppler facilities on site within the antenatal clinic.

This is a self-contained specialist unit of 16 beds and 6 Day Case chairs directly across the road from the main teaching hospital of the new medical school. It includes inpatient facilities for children. There is one ward sub-divided into larger and smaller areas including single rooms to facilitate flexibility of use. A new operating theatre suite opened in 2002 and includes a major and minor theatre, anaesthetic and recovery rooms and associated services. A new one stop cataract facility is now open.

From August 2007 there will be eight GP VTS posts within Brighton and are in General Adult, Old Age, Substance Misuse Psychiatry and Learning Disabilities. All of these posts offer a mix of inpatient, outpatient and community work and encompass the training needs of future GPs. These posts provide excellent opportunities for working in a multi-disciplinary setting.

Trainees working within a sub-speciality such as Substance Misuse or Learning Disabilities will have the opportunity to experience General Adult and Old Age Psychiatry.

The Audrey Emerton Building Education Centre was built by Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust to create a stimulating and friendly environment for the education and training of healthcare professionals. The building forms part of the Brighton and Sussex Medical School which is one of four new medical schools created as part of the government’s strategy to increase the number of qualified doctors from the UK working in the NHS. In its first year it became the most popular choice for medical students in the UK.

DEPARTMENT INFORMATION

The Ear, Nose and Throat Department in Brighton is comprised of the following two units:
1) Royal Sussex County Hospital Main Administration Unit with Out Patient and In Patient facilities Audiology Department and Hearing Aid Department Special liaision with Radiotherapy Department
2) Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital, specialises in treatment of children from a wide area The Unit comprises mixture of Day Case and In-patients beds There are 5 operating sessions per week.
3) PRH Hospital – all in patient services on a 12 bedded unit covering 10 operating lists.

The department is a major unit that opened in 1969. It underwent major refurbishment in the late 1990s. It sees 70,000 new patients per annum.