A public health boss has described a sharp increase in the number of patients admitted to hospital with malnutrition as a “worrying trend”.

By March approximately 165 people were taken to Royal Preston, Chorley and South Ribble hospitals because they were malnourished; That was a 73% increase from the approximately 95 people admitted in the previous 12 months.

Malnutrition; There may be many reasons such as nutritional problems, problems in absorbing nutrients or not eating healthy.

Lancashire County Council’s director of public health, Dr. Sakthi Karunanithi said: “Any increase in hospital admissions due to lack of access to healthy food is a worrying trend and will have a detrimental impact on people’s lives.”

Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s NHS England figures (rounded to the nearest five) lag the national trend.

There has been a slight decline in admissions related to malnutrition across England in 2023-24, falling to 10,728.

Dr Karunanithi said a lot of work was being done across the county to “build and support resilience in our community food organisations”.

He said this included maximizing the number of people taking part in national initiatives such as the healthy start program and receiving free school meals.

“We will continue to work with our partners to address health inequalities and ensure people across Lancashire stay well and have access to healthy diets,” Dr Karunanithi added.

“This will ease the pressure on hospitals and help people live healthy lives.”

Anna Taylor, chief executive of the Food Foundation, said the first thing families struggling financially cut out was healthy food.

“We call on the government to ensure everyone can afford and access a healthy diet that will keep them well, and by doing so, achieve the government’s aims of making our children healthier, relieving pressure on the NHS and growing the economy.” in question.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Our 10 Year Health Plan will tackle these serious health inequalities by shifting care from hospital to the community and supporting people to live longer, healthier lives.”

Further analysis of NHS England data revealed that the number of admissions to Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for malnutrition (again rounded to the nearest five) almost doubled from 35 to 65 over the same period.

Meanwhile at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Blackburn, the situation was largely stable and the number of admissions for malnutrition increased from 30 to 35.

But at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, admissions have fallen from 85 to 60.