HOSPITALS in East Lancashire are spending as little as £2.38 per meal for patients.

A massive disparity in what is spent on patients around the country was revealed by statistics compiled by the NHS Information Centre.

They showed that nationally some hospitals had allocated just £2.57 a day – or 86 pence a meal.

At the other end of the scale some NHS trusts were spending as much as £22.31 – £7.44 a meal – on breakfast, lunch and dinner for each patient in their care.

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs Royal Blackburn Hospital and Burnley General Hospital, spent the least in the region – £2.38 per meal and £7.14 per day.

Next was Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, which delivers community services as well as specialist mental health services, and allocates £2.51 per meal and £7.52 per day.

Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which has a medium secure unit in Whalley and provides specialist services to in-patients and out-patients, spent almost twice as much – £4.68 per meal and £14.04 per day.

NHS East Lancashire, the primary care trust which covers Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale, spent the most during 2010/11 – £4.98 per meal and £14.94 per day.

This was for meals served at Accrington Victoria Community Hospital and Clitheroe Community Hospital, and was set by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.

NHS Blackburn with Darwen Care Trust Plus does not provide such services.

A spokesperson for Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust said: “When looking at catering costs, a high spend isn’t always an indicator of quality. Costs are variable and fluctuate depending on the number of patients that are occupying beds within the service.

“Therefore standalone sites will often have higher costs because they are catering for fewer people but require the same catering infrastructure (chefs, managers, equipment and food) as a service that is providing for many more people, which affects the spend per person.”

East Lancashire Hospitals Trust was unavailable for comment.

Katherine Murphy of the Patients Association said health bosses had priorities other than food, despite a balanced diet being “vitally important”.

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