DEAD patients had to be carried down a flight of stairs after two of a hospital’s lifts broke down.

Staff at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton had to come up with alternative methods to move patients to and from its Barry Building after the fault occcured.

The problem also meant some elderly and frail patients had to wait longer to be discharged from hospital because they could not manage the stairs.

Several relatives and members of staff contacted The Argus after the problem developed on Sunday evening.

The trust put arrangements in place so staff had access to private ambulance crews who were able to help patients up or down the stairs or move them round the hospital site to another building or floor if necessary.

One member of staff said: “It has been a really difficult situation and left a lot of people feeling stressed and upset.

“The hospital is under a lot of pressure as it is so having to work without properly operating lifts has not helped.

“It is not an ideal situation for the patients and their families and even worse for the relatives of those who have passed away.”

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust said one of the lifts was repaired yesterday and they hoped to have the other fixed within the next two weeks.

The delay has been due to the fact that, because the lifts are old, the replacement part is no longer readily available so the manufacturer had to ship the part from Denmark.

The spokesman said: “We have experienced technical faults with both the public lifts in the Barry Building at the front of the Royal Sussex County Hospital.

“Work has been carried out and one of the lifts is now working.

“While the lifts were out of action, we activated contingency plans that we have in place for this type of unforeseen and unavoidable incident, which are designed to minimise the impact on our patients and ensure everyone knows what to do, particularly in an emergency, and how to move patients around the building safely.

“Our staff have worked extremely hard to ensure we have been able to maintain high standards of safety, privacy and dignity for all patients during this time.

“We realise how inconvenient this has been for those using the Barry Building, including patients, visitors and our own staff, and we appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding.”