A pensioner was given the wrong medication and his finger broken during a hospital stay.

Ron Richardson said he was appalled at the standard of care his 76-year-old father Peter had received.

He said the severely diabetic pensioner had been given pills meant for another patient and had fractured a bone because there were not enough nurses to help him when he had a seizure.

Mr Richardson, 56, claimed to have seen another elderly patient forced to clean up his own blood from the floor.

He also claimed that although some of the nurses were excellent, the Grant Ward at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton was understaffed.

Mr Richardson, of Gladstone Road, Portslade, who visits his father every day, said: "It's a mess up there.

"I'm so frustrated and sick of getting fobbed off. I'm very worried about what could happen to him next in there."

Mr Richardson's father is what is known as a "brittle diabetic" - meaning his blood sugar levels fluctuate wildly and unpredictably, often causing seizures.

He has been in and out of the Grant Ward at the Royal Sussex for the past three months.

The first major problem came when he was given 12 tablets meant for the patient opposite, despite his family, who were there at the time, querying the medication.

Later, they received a verbal apology from the ward manager.

During another visit to his father, Mr Richardson claims he witnessed a patient clean up a pool of his own blood from the floor after a nurse took a drip out of his arm and left him for more than half an hour.

Last Friday, his father suffered a violent seizure in a corridor and broke a finger.

Mr Richardson only found out when he visited the following day and discovered his father with his arm in a cast.

Mr Richardson said: "I've complained to the duty manager time and time again but all I get is: 'I'm sorry, my hands are tied, it's a lack of money and resources.'"

Mr Richardson said he saw patients unable to sit up to eat left without help at mealtimes and the drugs trolley left unattended in the middle of the ward every day.

He said: "My father never complains but it is really getting him down.

"Things are not getting any better at that hospital.

"I am very worried about what could happen."

On the BBC's Panorama TV programme earlier this year, an undercover nurse exposed appalling lapses in the care of elderly patients on the Peel and Stewart Ward at the Royal Sussex.

Regular monthly updates on the progress at the hospital are now to be made to the board of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

A spokeswoman for the trust said: "We are sorry to hear Mr Richardson is unhappy with the treatment his father has received.

"The trust accepts that on one occasion Mr Richardson's father was given incorrect medication and has apologised to him and his family.

"However, he suffered no ill-effect and the agency nurse in question is no longer employed by the trust.

"Mr Richardson's father did fracture a finger during a seizure. While it is distressing this injury occurred, it is safer for the patient not to be restrained during a seizure.

"The trust works closely with its staff to ensure cleanliness is of a high standard at all times.

"If Mr Richardson or his family are still unhappy with any aspect of his father's care, we would be happy to discuss any concerns with them."