The head of a hospital trust battling to get its finances under control has urged staff to look on the bright side following a series of cuts - reports The Argus.
Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust has been working to save £15 million and this has led to workers being made redundant and beds being closed.
The trust also has one of the highest MRSA rates in the country.
A consistently high number of bed-blocking patients have to stay in hospital longer than necessary until other organisations such as social services can sort out a care home place for them or provide proper support in their own home.
In a New Year message to staff, chief executive Peter Coles said improvements had been made but there was still a lot of work to be done and the next few months would be a challenge.
The message follows the news earlier this month that hundreds of hospital workers could strike after a union representative from GMB complained he was "frog marched" out of the building when he was made redundant.
Mark Thomas was escorted from the Royal Sussex by security guards after being called into a meeting and told he was losing his job as part of 500 cuts in posts at the trust. The trust plans to cut 40 jobs from its facilities department, where Mr Thomas worked, over the next month.
GMB branch secretary Mark Turner said: "Of course it has been tough but it has mainly been tough for those at the lower levels who are having to pay for the incompetence of management that allowed the finances to get into the state they did.
"Morale is at rock bottom at the moment and the next few months are going to be even harder."
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