NHS Sussex Integrated Care Board and University Hospitals Sussex have confirmed a modernisation of the cardiac catheterisation service in West Sussex to align local care with the latest national guidance from NHS England.
A cardiac catheterisation laboratory, or ‘Cath Lab’, is a high-tech theatre where specialists perform minimally invasive heart or pacemaker procedures. The modernisation programme will affect approximately 300 patients per year requiring pacemaker procedures.
Until now, these patients have been treated at St Richard’s Hospital but in future will be treated at Worthing Hospital. There is no change to urgent or emergency heart attack care, or other cardiology services including the Cardiology ward and Outpatients clinics at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester.
This change follows new national guidance that recommends Cath Labs should be in hospitals with two or more labs to improve safety and efficiency. Worthing Hospital already has two state-of-the-art labs which can safely accommodate more patients.
New NHS guidance published in February (2026) has further restricted the use or refurbishment of standalone Cath Labs.
Professor Katie Urch, Chief Medical Officer of University Hospitals Sussex, said: “We know St Richard’s is a much-loved community asset, and we never take decisions regarding its services lightly. At the same time, our new strategy’s vision is to provide clinical excellence everywhere we provide care for patients. For cardiology, the national guidance is clear: specialised heart procedures should be performed in hospitals with two or more Cath Labs.
“This is the nature of modern medicine; ensuring patients are seen by larger integrated teams at specialist centres. It’s why other vital services will be centralised at St Richard’s. For example, our stroke department in Worthing will close next year and move into a new Acute Stroke Centre at St Richard’s Hospital.
“Meanwhile, we will continue to invest in Cardiology in Chichester, maintaining the Cardiology ward and Outpatients clinics for patients, as well as developing a modern non-invasive diagnostic CT scanning service, which is safer and faster for patients.”
In January 2025, the Cath Lab at St Richard’s was closed after an inspection revealed a major issue with the air exchange system that supported the safe use of the theatre. Prior to this, restrictions on its use as a standalone Cath Lab meant it was being underused and open only three days a week.
As a result, most patients from the Chichester area who need treatment in a Cath Lab already travel to larger centres in Worthing, Brighton or Portsmouth to receive more complex, emergency, or high-risk care that the standalone Cath Lab at St Richard’s cannot provide.
Professor Andrew Rhodes, Joint Chief Medical Officer at NHS Sussex said: “Recently published national guidance from the National Clinical Director for Heart Disease states that Cath Labs should only be commissioned or refurbished as part of a wider review of cardiology, reflecting the changing practice in diagnostic cardiology.
“Further, Cath Labs should be used for 40 hours a week to ensure good use of resources. By consolidating Cath Lab activity at Worthing Hospital and following the networked model, the Trust is meeting safety standards for Cath Lab procedures, and also enabling new investment in modern, non-invasive heart diagnostics at St Richard’s.”
The Cath Lab modernisation programme received formal support from the West Sussex Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee (HASC) on 4 March 2026. Independent clinical assurance was provided by the Regional Clinical Lead for NHS England, consultant cardiologist Dr Yaver Bashir from Oxford University Hospitals who supported the reconfiguration and made series of other recommendations that the Trust has accepted in full.