Hospital trusts have raised tens of thousands of pounds a year by allowing ambulance-chasing personal injury lawyers and claims management companies to advertise in their hospitals.

East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, which is responsible for Conquest Hospital in St Leonards and Eastbourne District General Hospital, has received £10,000 a year by allowing personal injury lawyers to advertise in their emergency departments.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust will earn £20,000 this year alone from the arrangement.

In total the trust, which manages Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton and Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, has earned £55,000 over five years by selling advertising space to specialist medical publishing company BOE Ltd and recruitment experts Calco Ltd.

Both trusts have said they are in the process of removing ads for legal services from their hospitals after complaints were raised but have to wait for existing agreements to expire.

Adverts are placed on appointment cards for outpatients and on leaflets giving health advice left in accident and emergency wards.

Hospital trusts have been under pressure from the Government to stop the practice.

In January health minister Simon Burns told hospital trusts it was “not acceptable” to display adverts for law firms.

However advertisers have warned any ban would hit hospitals’ income and conflict with the 2006 Compensation Act which allows businesses to operate in NHS trusts with the approval of the facility’s management.

Brighton and Sussex took the decision in October last year to phase out advertising leaflets from the trust’s hospitals over the next three months.

A spokeswoman said that the advert that had initially caused offence to patients had been removed but the existing agreement with BOE would continue until December.