Enter and view: Sussex Eye Hospital
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Healthwatch Brighton and Hove undertook an enter and view visit to the Sussex Eye Hospital at the Royal Sussex County Hospital on 29 April 2026. They spoke to 41 people.
78% of patients spoken to rated their overall experience at the Sussex Eye Hospital as either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’, 16% of patients rated their experience as ‘average’. Nobody rated their overall experience as poor or very poor.
The impact of waiting times for eye care/ treatments was the most concerning aspect of the findings. 40% (6 people) of those who were on, or had been on waiting lists for treatment, said that they had experienced ‘considerable deterioration’ in their vision whilst waiting whilst 47% (7 people) told us that they had experienced ‘some deterioration’ in their vision whilst waiting.
Patients were generally positive about the potential move of some hospital eye services to community settings but wanted levels of care to remain at the same quality as current hospital provision, and to be delivered in a location that is convenient for them.
The Enter and View Environmental Audit identified positive aspects in all the three areas we visited. It also raised some recommendations for improvements. Healthwatch volunteers commented “The whole department appeared extremely clean and tidy which is commendable given the challenges associated with the older building”.