East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Eastbourne District General Hospital and Conquest Hospital in Hastings, found itself in the bottom 20 per cent of the country's 166 trusts for food in the Healthcare Commission's 2007 survey of inpatients. People rated the dishes and the choice of meals as poor.

The trust was also in the worst 20 per cent for its provision of single-sex ward space, with many patients reporting sharing sleeping areas and bathroom areas with members of the opposite sex.

Conservative Eastbourne MP Nigel Waterson has said he will write to the trust's chief executive, Kim Hodgson, for an explanation of how she plans to tackle the problems.

He said, "When Labour came into power in 1997 they were promising to abolish mixed-sex wards and clearly they have failed to do that.

"Talking to constituents, particularly women, they often find it very embarrassing to be sharing accommodation with the opposite sex, and particularly the older generation.

"As for hospital food, in terms of hospital recovery good nutritious and attractive food is an important part of the recovery process."

The Healthcare Commission's survey was part of its annual health check and was sent to 850 Eastbourne and Hastings patients discharged in June last year. There were 500 sent back.

David Philliskirk, director of estates and facilities, said the trust was disappointed with its poor rating for hospital food. Internal questionnaires on food distributed by the trust had found 94 per cent of patients found it to be acceptable, very good or excellent.

He said, "We do however recognise the importance of providing high-quality food as a key aspect in supporting patient recovery and ensuring effective nutrition.

"All our menus are prepared with input from the hospital dieticians and guidance from the Department of Health and the Better Hospital Food programme, and the food is produced centrally by our in-house team of chefs from fresh ingredients.

"The catering team is always willing to visit patients in their wards to discuss any problems or concerns they may have including any special dietary needs. We will also be embarking on a series of site visits to hospitals that have received the highest food ratings nationally to see how we can improve our service still further."

The hospital trust also emerged in the lower fifth of trusts for the amount of information and privacy given in the emergency department and the perception of whether doctors cleaned or washed their hands between patients.

The survey showed concerns over the information given to patients and the lack of an opportunity for family members to talk to a doctor.

However, it scored better on the availability of its nurses, with few patients complaining that nurses talked about them as if they were not there. The survey showed 64 per cent of respondents who asked questions to nurses received clear answers and almost three-quarters of them had confidence and trust in the nurses treating them.

In addition, more than half said there were always enough or nearly enough nurses on duty to treat them.

One person commented, "The nursing staff made me feel like I was the only patient and I'm sure other patients felt the same way."

Chief nurse Jane Hentley said, "It is invaluable to have the views of patients who use our services. It is pleasing to see the aspects of a patient's admission where we do well and other areas where improvement has been made from last year's survey."

However, she admitted that the hospital still had improvements to make. The priorities are to reduce noise in the wards at night, communicate more on use of medication and give patients more information when they are discharged.