The National Health Services is again in news, but not for the right reasons. In the year 2007, it was reported that 239 people died of malnutrition. But according to the charity Age U. K, the numbers are much higher than what have been revealed by NHS.

In a survey published by Age U. K, which quizzed 1000 NHS hospital nurses found out some startling revelations, it was found that less than half the nurses said that their hospitals screened old people for malnutrition regularly, whereas one-third said that they screened patients routinely for malnutrition and 5% maintained that they checked older patients for malnutrition only during discharge.

Age U. K’s efforts have borne fruit in the form of awareness and the Government pumping in money, but little has changed as Age U. K’s report noted that in the year 2007-08 149,946 people had been admitted into hospitals after suffering from malnutrition, whereas on discharge it was found that the number of people suffering from malnutrition rose by 8,229, which got worse the following year when the figure rose to 10,443.

The ugly head of malnutrition at NHS hospitals though does not seem to be because of shortage of funds or food, many patients who face disabilities or old patients who face problems in eating are not properly taken care of by the nurses due to the leverage of vast responsibilities, which leaves them with little time to tend patients.

Prime Minister, David Cameron’s Administration was quick to point fingers at Labour Party’s rule, which lasted more than 10 years, for the dismal situation of malnutrition in NHS hospitals.