Brighton: Rabbi confused by lift at Royal Sussex Hospital

The buttons in the brand-new Louisa Martindale building at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, said to be a "once in a generation" improvement,  stumped Rabbi Gabriel Kanter-Webber who was visiting a patient receiving treatment at the hospital.

He called the lift "unfathomable" - and said the instructions only made things worse - but hospital bosses are working to fix this "as quickly as possible."

The brand-new Louisa Martindale Building (Image: University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust)

He snapped a picture of the buttons and posted it online, where thousands of people have joined his confusion.

The Rabbi at the Brighton and Hove Progressive Synagogue said: "The first time I saw it was before the explanatory sign was put up.

"I thought it was strange to have multiple buttons. But luckily a nurse knew what to do.

"And then the next time I visited, they put a sign up which only seems to make things worse. The sign is for a different configuration of buttons altogether."

Floors one, two, three and four all have two buttons for each floor - and the sign suggests that both buttons must be pressed, before a red light for a separate floor appears.

"If it was just the buttons alone, I would imagine it would be something to do with the front and back doors in the lift.

"But they are not next to each other."

The confusing sign (Image: Gabriel Kanter-Webber)

Staff members at the hospital replied to his Facebook post after it went viral in the Useless, Unsuccessful, and/or Unpopular Signage group.

One said: "It is separate staff access for a whole separate corridor system to help shield people from seeing certain things like waste, food transport and distressing sights."

However other commenters found the confusing set-up amusing. One said: "This is an escape room and you can't convince me otherwise."

Another asked: "What happens if you press two different numbers, do you get stuck between floors? Does the lift go sideways Willy Wonka style?"

The confusing lift panel (Image: Gabriel Kanter-Webber)

But Rabbi Kanter-Webber's concerns extended just beyond the confusing aspect. He noted how the instructions did not have Braille for blind users.

He said: "The physical buttons have Braille on, but the sign does not.

"Not that it matters as those of us who are not blind can't make sense of it either.

"Every other aspect of the building is terrific, but this is clearly one thing they have not thought about.

"This is something they will have to change as hopefully the building is going to be there for 50 to 60 years."

The University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust manages the Royal Sussex County Hospital. The trust apologised for the confusion and said it was working to fix it.

A spokesman said: "We’re sorry some of the operating instructions in a small number of our lifts are causing some confusion – we’re aware of the issue and are working to fix this as quickly as possible."