Health chiefs have abandoned plans to stop prescribing drugs which slow the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

East Sussex County Healthcare NHS Trust had been considering stopping anti-dementia drug prescriptions for people in care homes for three months to save money.

The move angered the Alzheimer's Society, which said the drugs were vital for improving patients' quality of life.

But the drugs are expensive and the trust, which provides mental health care and other community health services, had considered limiting their use and giving priority to patients who were living in their own homes.

It gave up the idea after the society made its concerns public.

David Sutcliffe, chairman of the Eastbourne and district branch of the Alzheimer's Society, said patients should not be discriminated against.

He said: "You could say that people with Alzheimer's are a soft touch - they won't complain. Their carers may well also not complain.

"These treatments are both clinically and cost effective and should be made available to people in the early stages of Alzheimer's.

"It is wrong to assume that people with Alzheimer's in care homes can't benefit from these drug treatments. There is no good financial or moral reason why they should not receive equal access to health care."

A trust spokesman said there were no plans to deny essential anti-dementia drugs to patients.

He said the trust - which was given a zero rating in the Government's annual assessment last month - spent £500,000 more than it could afford on drugs last year and was looking at ways to reduce spending.

He said the option of prioritising prescribing between groups of patients had also been rejected.

The trust is in talks with primary care trusts in East Sussex about how much money it will be given for drugs in the future.