Sussex has been named the bed-blocking capital of England and Wales.

Latest figures from Surrey and Sussex Strategic Health Authority (SHA) reveal that almost 500 people are stuck in hospital beds across the region.

More than half of those are in Sussex.

About ten per cent of all hospital beds in both East and West Sussex are being taken up by people who are well enough to be moved elsewhere, the highest percentage of all 28 SHAs in England and Wales.

Staff shortages, a high elderly population and a lack of suitable care homes have been blamed.

Unexpectedly high numbers of emergency cases coming in to casualty are adding to the pressure.

Delayed discharges have a knock-on effect leading to cancelled operations and long waits for patients in casualty.

Announcing the figures, David Smith, the SHA's director of policy and performance, said: "There is a lot of work to do."

Social services departments in Brighton and Hove, and East and West Sussex are working closely with hospitals and health organisations to tackle the problem.

Improvements include more at-home care and support for elderly people to prevent the need for hospital treatment.

Special packages of care, including visits from nurses and occupational therapists, are being developed to allow patients to be cared for in their own homes.

Mr Smith told an SHA board meeting yesterday that all trusts would have to work hard to meet strict Government targets over the next year.

These include making sure that by next March, 90 per cent of patients spend no more than four hours in A&E departments from arrival to either admission, transfer or discharge.

Others include ensuring no patients wait more than 12 months for an operation and nobody waits more than 21 weeks for their first outpatient appointment.

Mr Smith said: "Despite the ongoing problems with delayed discharges, our overall waiting list times are starting to go down.

"However, there are strict targets that have to be met and we will have to constantly monitor performance so they are not breached.

"There is a lot to work on. We will be meeting local health communities throughout the two counties to set out how we can make sure performances can be improved."