Patients are still being neglected in a hospital condemned for its treatment of the elderly.

The Royal Sussex Hospital's Peel and Stewart ward, which featured in a Panaroma programme exposing the degrading treatment of patients, is at the centre of fresh allegations of poor treatment.

Inspectors made three unannounced spot checks between November and January - six months after the Undercover Nurse investigation - and found a diabetic patient being offered unsuitable food and a confused patient wandering outside the hospital building.

They were part of a litany of problems uncovered by Brighton and Hove Primary Care Trust's Patient and Public Involvement Forum - many of which were supposed to have been addressed by managers.

The forum's report said the ward was understaffed and overcrowded, making it difficult for nurses to carry out their work.

It found patients were denied dignity and privacy and the ward had an unhealthy mix of confused and seriously ill patients.

The report stressed the majority of patients were well cared for and appreciated their nurses.

But it added: "We have concerns the standard of care being delivered at present, despite staff efforts and recent welcome improvements, remains finely balanced between safe and not safe."

The forum found staff to be friendly, approachable and hard working but said poor resources meant they failed to deliver adequate levels of nursing.

It also reported nurses faced too much paperwork and that much of this included unnecessary duplication of information.

Former nurse Doris Heal's sister Iris Clarke was being treated in the ward from January last year for MRSA and neurological problems. She died in May aged 74.

Mrs Heal, of St Martins Crescent, Newhaven, said: "There is too much time taken up with writing up reports. Basic nursing has gone out of the window."

Mrs Heal, a nurse for 26 years at Brighton General Hospital, complained to the hospital about her sister's treatment.

She complained to The Argus when she found ants crawling on her sister's hospital bed.

An undercover nurse working for the BBC's Panorama team unveiled a catalogue of problems on the ward, including elderly patients left to sit in their own urine and not given water or medication.

Last July, Peter Coles, chief executive of the Royal Sussex, told The Argus he was "very concerned" to see images of people in pain but said the ward had been transformed since the filming took place.

Yesterday Mr Coles was unavailable for comment.

But the trust released a statement, saying: "An action plan is in place to improve standards of care on Peel and Stewart ward and this is reviewed and updated on a regular basis.

"Robust monitoring mechanisms are in place and we are confident patients are well cared for, as the PPI report states.

"Since the visits by the forum, further improvements have been made to the ward, including a £222,000 investment to improve toilet and bathroom facilities in the Barry Building, where the ward is located.

"The trust has reviewed staff levels on the ward and will be appointing additional nursing staff."