Bereaved Isabel Ford is distraught after her elderly sister died of cancer in what she claims were "workhouse conditions" at a Brighton Hospital.

Mrs Ford says the state of Brighton General Hospital, where Regina Maria died on October 27, piled distress on top of the sad loss itself.

Grandmother Mrs Ford, 67, who lives in Bridgend, Wales, is so incensed by the poor conditions that she is writing to the Brighton Health Care NHS Trust, which runs the hospital.

She blames the hospital's managers and said: "The people sat up in their offices should be down on the wards seeing what's going on. They really don't care."

Spinster Miss Maria, 79, who worked at Roedean School before she retired, had been living in sheltered accommodation in Peacehaven until she was diagnosed with lung cancer and secondary cancers in her liver.

She was admitted to the Brighton General on October 20 after collapsing at her home.

But when Mrs Ford arrived at the hospital to be with her sister, she could not believe her eyes.

"The conditions on the ward were appalling and distressing, but I must stress the nurses were fantastic, giving me tea and making me comfortable.

"They were rushed off their feet and phoning around trying to get staff at 9.30pm for the 9.45pm shift," explained Mrs Ford, who stayed at her sister's bedside for 27 hours.

"Regina died in a busy, noisy ward when she should have been in a quiet and peaceful room with Macmillan nursing care."

Brighton Health Care NHS Trust agreed conditions were not ideal at Brighton General Hospital, despite hundreds of thousands of pounds being spent.

Spokesman Ian Keeber said: "The money is a small drop in the ocean compared to what it needs. The long-term plan is to vacate the site over the next few years, so there is little point spending millions."