The cash-strapped trust which runs Brighton's main hospital was today branded weak' by a Government health watchdog for its financial management.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath among others, was among 570 NHS organisations assessed for quality of services and use of resources by the Healthcare Commission.

Each trust got a ranking of excellent, good, fair or weak for the two areas.

Brighton and Sussex was given the lowest score possible for its use of resources because the commission says it has managed its finances badly.

In the second ranking, for quality of services, it was described as fair, which means there is room for improvement.

Lewes MP Norman Baker said: "These results are horrifying. It is clear the NHS in Sussex is in crisis and the management of resources is poor.

"The idea of transferring services from the Princess Royal to Brighton is appalling when it is clear the Royal Sussex is not coping as it is."

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals was found to have met several key targets throughout last year but failed in others.

Its services for children in hospital was weak, it failed to ensure almost all patients visiting accident and emergency departments were seen, treated and either admitted or discharged within four hours, it had too many bed-blocking patients and a high number of MRSA infections.

However, the way it managed its medicines was good, patients with any form of suspected cancer waited a maximum of one month from diagnosis to treatment and outpatients didn't wait longer than allowed for treatment.

A survey of in-patients also gave the trust a satisfactory rating.

The trust is experiencing significant financial problems and has to save £15 million this year.

This has led to about 500 jobs being lost and 109 beds being closed while its A&E departments are busier than ever before and the number of bed-blocking patients is higher than expected.

Charles Harrity from the GMB union in Brighton, said: "What these ratings show is that the problems facing the trust are due to the misuse of its resources, which includes the staff and facilities. It is an irony that the senior managers are continuing along these same lines by reducing its workforce."

Brighton and Sussex chief executive Peter Coles said: "This trust has made real progress in the last 12 months.

"Our patients are seen and treated quicker than ever, they feel they are treated with dignity and respect and our services are well managed.

"We are one of a minority of trusts throughout England to have achieved all of the Government's waiting time targets for patients with cancer. Our rating of weak' for use of resources was expected as the trust is facing up to and tackling an unacceptable financial deficit.

"We also acknowledge there are still improvements to be made to our services, particularly around tackling MRSA and ensuring we maintain the four-hour waiting time target in A&E.

"We believe with the work already under way we can build on what we do well and make real improvements."

A spokesman for the Patient Action Group in Sussex said: "These results just tell us what we already know. The NHS in Sussex is in a serious state at the moment and it is patients who are going to suffer.

"How they can even begin to talk about cutting services to save money and expecting people to travel miles for treatment when they are performing so badly is just unbelievable."

All the main hospital trusts in Sussex performed badly over finances but some were better over the standards of patient care and services.

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