Wards are facing closure at three hospitals due to a cash crisis

A meeting will decide whether wards at two Brighton hospitals and one in Haywards Heath should shut because of an estimated overspend of �8m.

The Royal Sussex County, Brighton General and Princess Royal Hospitals are at risk from the closures.

The cost of employing agency staff has been cited as a reason for the crisis.

Nursing vacancies

The Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust runs five hospitals across Sussex and has been reporting a potential overspend for some months.

It says the high cost of living and the average price of a home across the area has led to problems recruiting permanent workers.

The average price of a home in Sussex is around �190,000, while a newly qualified nurse is likely to earn just over �17,000.

Currently there are 272 nursing vacancies.

The trust says the main factors contributing to the overspend are high expenditure on bank, agency and locum staff and the necessity to treat patients in the private sector.

A spokesman said the closure of hospital wards were one possibility to resolve the cash crisis, but others were also being considered.