TEN patients spent more than 12 hours waiting in A&E for a bed to become available at a busy hospital.

The figures emerged as the NHS across Sussex and around the country continues to deal with severe winter pressures.

Campaigners are calling on the Government to invest more into NHS and social care services in a bid to stem the growing crisis.

The county’s hospitals experienced a surge in demand in December as they battled with a rise in patients needing to be admitted while struggling to discharge others because of delays in finding community beds and arranging support in their homes.

Just more than 80 per cent of the 13,276 patients visiting A&E at the Brighton and Sussex University Hospital Trust (BSUH) in December were seen, treated and they either discharged or admitted within four hours compared with the national standard of 95 per cent.

However, the average for England during that month was 79.3 per cent.

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust only managed 77.5 per cent while Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust bucked the trend with a figure of 90.4 per cent.

Waiting more than 12 hours for a bed to become available once a decision to admit a patient is also a breach of Government standards.

The figures also show 3,446 patients at all three of the main hospital trusts waited between four and 12 hours for a bed.

BSUH bosses said the aim was always to treat patients in its emergency departments as quickly as possible but at busy times they sometimes have to wait longer than they would like to be admitted.

The trust is making improvements to help with the flow of patients throughout the trust and working with other NHS organisations and social services to improve the discharge of patients.

Chairman of the British Medical Association Mark Porter said: “The NHS is doing more work than ever but remains underfunded for the work that it is called to do.

“Our members, working doctors, tell us that this winter period has been extraordinarily tough in our hospitals.

“When social care isn’t available, patients experience delays in moving from hospital to appropriate ongoing care settings – preventing patients being admitted at the front end in A&E.

“These trolley waits are a desperate sign of a system under too much pressure.

“The Prime Minister cannot continue to bury her head in the sand as care continues to worsen.”

The Department of Health said the vast majority of patients were seen and treated quickly and busy periods in hospitals were supported by an extra £400 million of funding.