Our health reporter Siobhan Ryan reports on what is being done to ease the county's hospital bed-blocking problems and halt the rise in cancelled operations.

June Hornsbury is today recovering from a successful gall bladder operation carried out earlier this week.

She was treated at a private hospital in Hove after the routine surgery was cancelled at least twice at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton, because there were no beds available.

Stories like Mrs Hornsbury's are not unusual but hospital staff say they are doing everything they can to reduce cancelled operations.

The hospitals run by Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust are growing steadily busier every year as medical science advances and more patients survive.

The overall age of the population is also increasing, which leads to a higher demand for services.

At the same time, it is difficult to recruit and keep staff at hospitals, not just in Sussex but across the south east, partly because of the high cost of living and low pay.

National shortages of specialist staff such as radiographers are also adding to the pressure.

Another major factor is the number of elderly and frail patients who are stuck waiting in hospital for a nursing or care home place or for a package of home care to be arranged for them.

These bed-blocking patients are then taking up beds which could otherwise be used for other patients waiting for operations.

This, combined with an increase in accident and emergency cases, leads to people like Mrs Hornsbury becoming angry and frustrated.

Trust chief executive Stuart Welling has outlined exactly what is being done to reduce cancelled operations and waiting lists and says he is confident of eventually cracking the problem.

He says there are many plans for the future and new ideas recently brought in are already starting to have an effect.

He said: "Every cancelled operation is unacceptable. It means the system has failed that particular individual and we take every one of these cancellations very seriously.

"There are three reasons usually why the operation is cancelled. It can be because the surgeon involved has fallen ill or there is no intensive care bed free.

"However, the most common reason is because there is no bed available."

One of the main problems is the number of bed-blocking patients at the Royal Sussex and at Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath.

At the moment there are about 100 which Mr Welling says is a phenomenal amount of people.

This, combined with a high number of visits to the accident and emergency department and direct GP referrals, means there is constantly a high demand for beds.

At the moment, the hospital is going through a peak period where it has large numbers of people being admitted through A&E but it is not able to discharge patients at the other end.

It means the only leeway available is to cancel elective operations, sometimes ones for urgent cases such as breast cancer.

Mr Welling said: "A hospital bed is not the appropriate place for these delayed discharge patients and it affects their quality of life.

"We are working with colleagues in social services and primary care so that when patients are ready to be discharged, they can leave hospital."

There are several areas being focused on to try and make the hospital run more efficiently.

These include making sure the patient is fully tracked from the moment they walk into the hospital to the moment they leave and go through the system without unnecessary delays.

This include seemingly obvious checks such as making sure all x-rays are available when a doctor needs to see them or that a patient is ready and waiting when their operating time arrives.

The trust has recently introduced some changes to its operating theatre times to make sure it is fully utilised, especially at the weekends.

Previously, if a patient needed orthopaedic surgery and was admitted to hospital at the weekend, they were put on a list to be dealt with as soon as possible on the Monday.

This would mean other patients who were already scheduled for surgery on that day would be affected.

However, in the last few weeks orthopaedic surgeons are now on duty at the weekend as a matter of course, so operations can be carried out there and then.

Another method recently introduced is the "protection" of a certain number of hospital beds.

These beds are effectively ring-fenced to only be used by patients who are coming in for elective surgery.

At the moment, the system is being used for breast cancer, gynaecological and urology patients and has already proved to work well.

Long-term plans including opening up another 30 beds and open another operating theatre at Princess Royal Hospital, Haywards Heath.

This will create more space at the Royal Sussex for other operations.

The trust is also pushing for Government money to eventually build a diagnostic and treatment centre at the Princess Royal that would concentrate on elective orthopaedic surgery.

Mr Welling said: "We are really pushing for this at the moment and are hoping to learn something in the next couple of months."

Expanding bed numbers and carrying out more operations will mean more staff are needed and the trust is actively working on a recruitment and retention strategy.

It already has a nurse cadet scheme and is planning once again to recruit from abroad to help fill vacancies.

Other changes will include the new children's hospital to replace the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Sick Children and plans for a new breast cancer unit site at Rosaz House, are continuing to progress.

Mr Welling said: "We will be focusing on how we are going to be providing services for people across the whole of the area and what is the best way forward.

"We need to make sure services are accessible and of the highest quality.

"There is a lot happening over the next decade and many plans ahead.

"We are not a failing organisation. We recognise we have areas which we need to improve but we are doing something about it."