Keep Sussex Safe

The NHS and other health and care organisations in Sussex have teamed up to keep things simple. We’ve set out the straightforward steps that you can take to keep yourself and others safe, get the care you need during the pandemic, and reduce your risk of serious illness from COVID-19.

Please help spread the message, not the virus.

National lockdown: stay at home

Coronavirus cases are rising rapidly across the country. You must stay at home. The single most important action we can all take is to stay at home to protect the NHS and save lives.

You must not leave, or be outside of your home except where necessary. You may leave the home to:

  • shop for basic necessities, for you or a vulnerable person
  • go to work, or provide voluntary or charitable services, if you cannot reasonably do so from home
  • exercise with your household (or support bubble) or one other person, this should be limited to once per day, and you should not travel outside your local area.
  • meet your support bubble or childcare bubble where necessary, but only if you are legally permitted to form one
  • seek medical assistance or avoid injury, illness or risk of harm (including domestic abuse)
  • attend education or childcare – for those eligible

Find detailed guidance on the national lockdown on the UK government website.

Follow the links below for more guidance on how you can help keep Sussex safe.

Get medical help if you need it

NHS services are currently extremely busy and demand continues to rise due to higher rates of COVID-19 in our communities.

Our hospitals continue to provide cancer and other urgent operations and aim to carry on providing other non-COVID treatments as much as possible. However, because of the need to deploy staff where they are needed most, some routine surgery has been postponed.

Please continue to attend all booked appointments unless you are contacted by the NHS and told otherwise. You can still travel to medical appointments in and out of Tier 4, and we urge you to keep appointments unless you feel unwell or have suspected COVID-19 symptoms.

Spotting problems early is vital, especially cancers. Please don’t wait, seek help early if you have any concerns.

  • If you need medical help from your GP, contact them online or by phone to be assessed.
  • For urgent medical help, contact NHS 111 online or by phone. Help is at hand from a team of highly trained experts and, if needed, you can be given a booked time slot at an urgent treatment centre or even an A&E department.
  • The Sussex Mental Healthline offers crisis care for people in urgent need of help with their mental health. It is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week on 0800 0309 500 – we welcome Text Relay calls and New Generation Text calls from hearing and speech impaired callers, on 0300 5000 101.
  • Please only call 999 in the event of a medical emergency.

Community support

For more information on community support, help available and the impact of the national restrictions on local council services, please visit the following pages: