More co-operation for less malnutrition - Burstow

12.01.00am GMT Tue 20th Jan 2009

Older people's rights campaigner, Paul Burstow, MP for Sutton and Cheam, is calling for action to cut the £13bn cost of malnutrition to the NHS. The MP wants to see better standards of nutrition to be set for every child and adult in social and healthcare to help tackle the problem.

The issue of malnutrition is in the spotlight because of the publication of a report by BAPEN, (British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition) a charity that aims to improve nutritional care and treatment in all care settings.

The report follows a round table discussion involving 18 organisations representing patients, carers and population groups which included Help the Aged, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Macmillan Cancer Support and the Parkinson's Disease Society.

BAPEN called the roundtable meeting to show that malnutrition affects people across the age and health spectrum and that any solutions must take account of this.

Commenting on the report, Paul Burstow MP said:

'This report is a timely reminder of the human and financial cost of malnutrition. This is not rocket science; good nutrition is critical to health and essential to a persons recovery from illness or operations. Yet too often poor practice and lack of attention to the basics leads to people going without the food they need.

'BAPEN's report rightly highlights the fact that malnutrition is not just an issue affecting the elderly it is a risk for anyone in care. That is why there is a need for more co-operation across government at all levels to end this scandal.'