Chalkhill

The new hospital for children and young people

with acute mental health problems

Welcome to Chalkhill...
Chalkhill, the new hospital for children and young people with acute
mental health problems is a state of the art building on the Princess Royal
Hospital site in Haywards Heath. The service will provide inpatient hospital
provision, access to first class education, and day care and home treatment
services across West Sussex, East Sussex and Brighton and Hove.
The provision of the building has been
long awaited by a service that has seen
wholesale modernisation over the past four
years and is currently regarded as a centre
of excellence nationally.
The vision behind the service development
and the design of the building has been
driven by excellent and fruitful collaboration
between Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation
Trust’s estates department and the service.
All the way through children, young people
and staff have been involved in saying what
they want and what will work for them.
The result is a stunning building that
challenges preconceptions of traditional
hospital provision.
The service will comprise
• 16 acute inpatient beds, with 24 hour
access seven days a week.
• Access to first class education on site with
the expectation that all children will
attend school, supported by clinical staff
where necessary.
• Day services
• Locally based Home Treatment services
where intensive community support and
assessment is required.
The children and young people
of Sussex deserve the best, both
in terms of the accommodation
and the service that we provide.
Chalkhill ticks both of those boxes.
planning and preparation, cooking,
laundering, cleaning) will be taught and
encouraged by teachers and monitored
and assessed by occupational therapists.
Education staff also work alongside health
care staff to provide home treatment and
extend the concept of a therapeutic
environment into the home and local
school, another pioneering aspect of the
service nationally.
The building is light, colourful and modern.
The theme of nature was chosen by the
children. With the support of Impact Art,
an independent art consultancy, and a
grant from Arts Council England, several
talented artists have worked under the
guidance of the young people to produce
some stunning results. The school has also
been central in supporting the production
of a range of artwork. The glazing design
incorporates leaf shapes and patterns that
are a replica of the trees outside the unit.
The wallpaper, upholstery and carpets are
based on two designs, Foliage Dance and
Forest Hideaway.
Artists Dan Savage and Juri Nishi were
commissioned to produce the glazing and
surface design artwork respectively. The
First class facilities
design process for the work began in
workshops with young people who made
All young people will be in hospital for as
a significant contribution to the finished
short a time as possible, and the emphasis
product.
will be on ensuring that the treatment
follows the child from the community into
Chalkhill and back to the community so
that the treatment programme matches
the needs of the child and their family and
carers. The service works with all of the
agencies which can play a part in children’s
lives, for example education, social services
and, where appropriate, the police and
substance misuse services.
Chalkhill will also provide a well equipped
Education Centre with a wide range of
facilities including a fully functioning
science classroom, an art studio with kiln,
classrooms for maths and information
computer technology complete with
interactive whiteboards, a stage for
theatrical productions, a large recreation
hall, and an independent living skills room
where activities of daily living (food
To complement the framed artwork the
young people have created, there are a
range of original artworks from Paintings
in Hospitals. Outside, the children’s play
area has an array of brightly coloured
silhouetted animals printed onto the
tarmac. The results speak for themselves;
innovative, imaginative and definitely
therapeutic.
Delivering exellent care
A building is only as good as the quality of
service that it provides. An intensive and
ongoing programme of training has
supported the development of the service.
The challenge of delivering excellent care
to acutely unwell young people within a
safe and supportive environment is one
that the whole staff team have risen to
with enthusiasm and passion. Young
people seen within the services come with
a range of problems; early onset psychosis,
depression, and eating disorders are
examples.
Sometimes young people come to the
service with a history of fractured
relationships at home and with friends
and in school, but with no clear diagnosis.
Sensitive assessment of the mental health
needs of those young people and then
joint working with colleagues in children’s
services is the starting point for provision
that puts the child and the world they live
in at the centre of their recovery.
Chalkhill,
Princess Royal Hospital,
Lewes Road, Haywards Heath,
West Sussex. RH16 4NQ
Tel: 01444 472670
Rockinghorse
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is
thrilled to have developed a relationship
with Rockinghorse, the charity that makes
life better for children in hospital in
Sussex and beyond. They have already
secured substantial donations which have
helped us equip Chalkhill with a range of
sports, education and recreation
equipment to help improve confidence,
relieve boredom and build social skills
among the young people Chalkhill will
treat.
The opening of Chalkhill marks the
continuation of a journey that began
several years ago, undoubtedly our first
class facility will offer opportunities for
further service development and confirm
the commitment of Sussex Partnership NHS
Foundation Trust to improving the
mental heath of children and young
people in Sussex.
This document is available in large
text, electronic format or by any
other means on request.
Please contact: 01444 472672
Contacting Chalkhill:
Jill Brown, Lead Administrator Tier 4 CAMHS
Chalkhill
Tel: 01444 472672
Email: jill.brown@sussexpartnership.nhs.uk
Published by Marketing and Communications,
Sussex Partnership, February 2009.
www.sussexpartnership.nhs.uk
All photography by:
Robby Whitfield of Central Photography.
Photography commissioned by:
Mansell Construction Services Ltd.