A pensioner's family is demanding an apology from a hospital for the care she received.

Daphne Simpson had a black eye, a cut on her forehead and had to be X-rayed for a suspected fractured neck after a fall at Brighton General Hospital.

Mrs Simpson, 80, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, was in the toilet when the accident happened and her family want to know why she was not being supervised.

Mrs Simpson's daughter, Linda Goodman, of Elm Grove, Brighton, said: "How on Earth can a woman of that age, who is ill and unsteady on her legs, be left unsupervised?

"Luckily, the X-ray showed she had only suffered tendon damage to her neck but it could have been more serious."

Mrs Simpson was admitted on February 9 after she complained of a lack of feeling in her legs and developed a urinary infection.

The family was told Mrs Simpson also had cancerous lesions on her face, which would have to be removed.

Mrs Goodman was called by the hospital on February 17 at about 8am and told her mother had had a fall during the night.

She visited later that day and said her mother had a cut on her head and was complaining that her neck hurt.

The following morning Mrs Goodman was called again and told her mother had a suspected fracture and needed to be transferred to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Eastern Road.

Mrs Goodman said: "I went to the hospital at about noon and saw Mum. She was wearing a neckbrace and it was very upsetting to see her like that.

"By 3pm there was still no sign of her being moved and it was only at 5pm that I was told the order to transfer her had been made.

"When I got there my mother's clothes, the clean and the dirty ones, had all been bundled in a black sack and a bowl of fruit was thrown on top.

"I was really angry when I saw this. Surely a little bit of care and attention should have been taken."

Mrs Simpson's other daughter, Jenny Sheppard, who lives in Canada, is angry at the length of time it took for staff to transfer her mother.

She said: "She should not have been left on her own and once a problem had been discovered she should have had the X-ray at once instead of leaving her waiting for ages.

"The staff knew she was unstable on her legs. Why on Earth did they let her go to the washroom alone?"

Hospital bosses had planned to return Mrs Simpson to Brighton General after her X-ray but her family is insisting she stays in the Royal Sussex until she is discharged.

Mrs Goodman said: "She has been through enough already and we don't think she should be moved any more."

Mrs Simpson is expected to be discharged in the next five to seven days.

A spokesman for Brighton Health Care NHS Trust said an investigation was continuing so he could not comment but the trust deeply regretted Mrs Simpson's fall.

He said it appeared Mrs Simpson got up in the middle of the night and went to the toilet when the fall happened.

He said: "Staff are working on a programme to try to reduce the number of falls patients have.

"We are very conscious of the needs of elderly patients who might fall and we monitor them as much as possible.

"A hospital bed is not a prison. Unless a patient is acutely ill, they would not get one-to-one attention at all times.

"Wards are always staffed but occasions may arise when staff's attention is momentarily taken up elsewhere.

"We are also looking at the family's complaint about Mrs Simpson's belongings being mistreated. If this is the case then we will offer our sincere apologies."