Fewer admissions were made for malnutrition at Buckinghamshire Healthcare in the last year, despite a rise nationally.

New data from NHS England show that Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust had around 25 admissions for malnutrition in the last year. 

This was a drop from the 35 admissions recorded in the previous year. 

The figures are rounded to the nearest five and cover a range of conditions including dietary issues and problems with absorbing nutrients or eating normally.

Across England, malnutrition hospital admissions have steadily risen over the last decade with the NHS seeing more than 10,000 for a fourth year in a row. 

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Last year's figures saw a slight fall to 10,728 though this was almost double the 6,616 admissions recorded a decade ago.

The earliest figures in 2010-11 were less than half of the current numbers. 

An organisation for GPs has labelled the national rise as 'unacceptable and extraordinary' and suggested hospital admissions are just the 'tip of the iceberg'.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, said there is a well-established link between access to fresh and healthy food and better physical health.

"A poor diet increases a patient’s risk of developing a range of nutritional diseases – malnutrition, rickets, scurvy, iron, vitamin and folate deficiencies, all of which are becoming increasingly common.

"In addition, they can also exacerbate chronic conditions a patient may already have."

The professor has called on the Government to take a preventative approach to support people's health and ease NHS pressures. 

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But a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said the Government's 10-year Health Plan will tackle health inequalities by "shifting care out of the hospital into the community".

They added: "It is shocking that so many people are being admitted to hospital for malnutrition, and further proof of the dire inheritance of this Government."

The spokesperson said they are "working to tackle the underlying causes of poor health" across Government departments.

Anna Taylor, executive director of the Food Foundation, said healthy food is often the first thing cut for families struggling financially.

"We are calling on the Government to ensure that everyone can afford and access a healthy diet that will keep them well, and in doing so achieve the Government’s ambitions to make our children healthier, relieve pressure on the NHS and grow the economy."