Malnourished millions

People can 'fall through the gaps' and miss out on support UK 'doing too few tonsil operations' Britain needs 'obesity GPs' Why a nudge is not enough School sun care policy The problems of obesity and overeating in our society receive a lot of attention.

But in this week's Scrubbing Up, Katherine Murphy of the Patients Association calls for more action to help the millions in the UK whose malnutrition is "unnoticed, unheard and unsupported".

It is unbelievable that in the UK today there are more than 3m people either malnourished or at risk of malnutrition.

What is alarming is that 93% of these patients are not in hospital but are living in the community.

It is our most vulnerable members of society who are most at risk.

This includes the elderly, those who are housebound or who have limited mobility and do not have a social support network in place to assist with tasks such as food shopping and cooking.

Patients are discharged from hospital and can be left isolated with no social care support.

They "fall through the gaps" and miss out on key support services, such as home help and meals on wheels.

People suffering from malnutrition are more vulnerable to infection, take longer for their wounds to heal or to recover from illness, have weaker muscles and may become depressed.

The malnourished also visit their GP twice as often and are three times more likely to be admitted to hospital.

For malnourished patients, their length of stay in hospital is increased by three days.