NHS bosses have been working together to cut the number of bed-blockers on hospital wards.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust has linked with Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group and local authorities to bring the number of cases down.

They have now managed to relocate those patients who have been waiting the longest for a care or nursing home place or for a package of care to be arranged for them.

This means most bed blockers are only staying at the hospital for an average of five days, which is helping patient flow around the hospital.

The trust revealed in board papers this week that patients were spending long hours in A&E because a bed could not be found on a ward for them.

On one day in August seven patients waited more than 12 hours for a bed.

This was due to exceptionally high demand on the Monday after Brighton Pride when medics had to deal with 71 detox incidents, which put extra pressures on services.