Hospitals spend less than £2.57 a day on food and drink

Wednesday, 11 January 2012

Almost one in 10 hospital trusts spend less than £5 a day on breakfast, lunch and dinner for each patient in their care, shock figures have revealed.

But while some hospitals spend just 86p a meal, others splash out £7.50 - spending more than £22 daily.

The data, compiled by the NHS Information Centre, has prompted campaigners to claim that nutritional standards are slipping to save cash.

It showed more than 30 trusts - almost one in 10 - pay less than £5 each day for breakfast, lunch and dinner for each patient in their care.

Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust spends the least - just £2.57 a day.

Numerous other trusts spend less than £1 on each meal, with Harrow in north-west London paying £2.75 daily and North Somerset £2.76 per patient.

In contrast, Wiltshire primary care trust spent £22.31 per patient per day, with others spending more than £10 daily.

The figures were disclosed a day after a report by the independent Future Forum warned that NHS nurses were lacking in compassion and basic skills.

Overall, the health service spends around £500 million a year on food and drink for patients.

But figures released by the NHS in October showed that £22 million worth of food was thrown away untouched in 2010 because people were unable or unwilling to eat it.

Katherine Murphy of the Patients Association claimed the latest figures showed NHS managers were trying to cut corners to reduce costs.

She said: "Sadly, catering is not seen as a priority by the NHS, but it’s a false economy.

"It’s vitally important that people in hospital get a balanced diet - otherwise they will have only to stay in hospital longer.

"It’s no surprise that so many people complain about the quality of the food and say they are not able to eat.

"Patients don’t expect restaurant-quality meals, but they do expect and deserve decent and nutritious food."

Health minister Simon Burns agreed that some trusts had to improve their performance on food.

He said: "All patients deserve basic standards of care when they are in hospital and good food is one of them.

"We have set binding standards for good hydration and nutrition as part of a hospital’s registration with the regulator.

"The amount of money hospitals are spending on food has gone up over the past five years, and waste is going down, but this rise in the amount spent on food does not necessarily mean better food for patients.

"Many trusts have excellent food and are serving healthy, fresh meals to their patients whilst staying within budget.

"These trusts set a precedent for others to follow and the whole NHS should be learning from the best trusts."