Mrs Wallace had a mild heart attack but is now medically fit

East Sussex social services have said Ellen Wallace, of Rye, needs a place in a nursing home, but that the authority has to find funds for the transfer.

Verity Curley said her grandmother had been fit to leave for over a month.

Latest figures obtained by BBC South East Today say 75 hospital beds are blocked in East Sussex and 68 in Kent.

Bed blocking is thought to cost the NHS about �170m a year.

She doesn't have thoughts of her own any more and she doesn't know where she is or what she is doing Verity Curley

Mrs Wallace, who has short-term memory loss and went to hospital three months ago after a mild heart attack, is growing more fearful and confused the longer she stays in hospital, Ms Curley said.

"She is not sleeping well at night. She doesn't have thoughts of her own any more and she doesn't know where she is or what she is doing."

Ms Curley said hospital staff did their best and that she visited as much as she could, but her grandmother needed consistency and people around her.

Talks planned

The council has said Mrs Wallace needs a residential nursing home placement.

Keith Hinkley, East Sussex director of adult social care, said: "We are concerned about the delays in finding a placement.

"We recently had the Audit Commission undertake a review of older people's services which focused on the delay in transfer of care and an action plan is being implemented.

"The council has had a very poor settlement from government and we know there is an ageing population within East Sussex with a high proportion of people over 85 that require our services "

He said the authority was to meet government representatives and he hoped talks would lead to an improvement in the situation.