Thousands of pounds a day are being wasted as patients are forced to stay in hospital until nursing home places can be found for them.

It costs each hospital in Sussex between £1,050 and £2,450 a week to look after patients waiting to transfer to a home compared to a weekly average of £350 to £375 for nursing homes.

Hospitals, owners of homes and social services say more investment is needed by the Government to solve the difference.

Hundreds of patients in hospitals throughout Sussex are waiting to be discharged. But a lack of places, staff shortages and not enough social services funding means they have to stay where they are.

The bed-blocking has led to hospitals losing much-needed money, cancelling appointments and operations for non-urgent patients. This, in turn, has made it difficult for Government targets on waiting lists to be met.

It also means patients are having to wait long hours on trolleys in accident and emergency departments.

Social services in East and West Sussex and Brighton and Hove say the cost of nursing home places depends on the scale of care patients need but admit they cost much less than hospital beds.

About 50 out of more than 800 beds belonging to Brighton Health Care NHS Trust are occupied by patients ready to leave.

There has been a 20 per cent drop in nursing home places in Brighton and Hove in the last year and health bosses say the figure could get worse.

A trust spokesman said: "Apart from the financial cost, there are also the knock-on effects that lead to cancellations and long trolley waits.

"It is important we work closely with GPs and other organisations such as social services to come up with a joint plan to solve this problem."

The issue is even more critical at Eastbourne Hospitals NHS Trust where 84 patients out of a total of 530 beds are waiting to be discharged.

There are currently 54 patients waiting to be discharged by Worthing and Southlands NHS Trust, which has 572 beds and an action plan has been launched to try to solve the problem.

The director of clinical services, Jeannie Baumman, said: "A combination of growing demand, shortage of social workers and a lack of available funds to provide the practical support patients need to be able to cope at home is increasingly causing us problems."

A spokesman for East Sussex social services said: "We have long been campaigning for more funding so we can find places for people at nursing homes."

Nursing home owners say they are being forced out of business because they are not being paid enough to look after patients. New Government legislation demanding improved facilities for nursing home residents, coming into force in April, has also caused problems.

Roy Tucker, from the East Sussex branch of the Nursing Homes Association, said: "Nursing home owners are in the unfortunate position of having to refuse to accept social services patients because of the amount per week they are being offered.

"It is not that they don't want to care for people but they simply cannot afford to provide the proper service on an average of £350 a week.

"To provide proper basic care costs about £400 a week and this can rise to £600 depending on the specialist care needed.

"Either way, it is still a lot cheaper than it costs hospitals who have to keep patients in.

"All we ask is that we are given the right payment so we can provide the best possible service for patients.

"To do this social services needs to be given extra funding so it can afford to invest in proper care and we can do the job we want to do."