Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to ensure that (a) estates maintenance for the Royal Sussex County Hospital remains in-house following the 3Ts redevelopment and (b) (i) catering, (ii) portering, (iii) cleaning and (iv) other soft ancillary services currently outsourced to Sodexo are brought in-house at the end of its contract in 2017 and remain in-house under the redeveloped hospital; and if he will make a statement.

The decision to outsource or bring services in-house is the responsibility of the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust Board, which will make these decisions in due course.

We are advised by the NHS Trust Development Authority that the trust has not earmarked beds for the use of private patients. The trust has made a small allowance of 633 square metres of floor area for private patient facilities within the new development (representing 0.68% of the total planned floor area), but not bed capacity. The cost of equipping this area would fall either directly to the trust or a private patient facility operator, and the Trust Board will decide in due course whether to proceed with a private patient facility or an alternative use. We understand that any money generated from private patients would be reinvested to directly benefit National Health Service patients at the hospital.