Lothian hospitals treat six malnourished OAPs a week

ALMOST twice as many pensioners in the Lothians are admitted to hospital with malnutrition than anywhere else in Scotland, figures have shown.

Latest figures show six malnourished people over the age of 65 are now being treated every week, a rise of around a dozen on last year. A mixture of care cutbacks and the increasing number of elderly residents in the area have been suggested for the 305 cases.

Experts said the majority of victims would be elderly people who lived alone and were "under the radar" as far as local authority support services were concerned.

Phyllis Herriot, acting secretary of the Scottish Pensioners' Forum, said: "This is a very sad figure, and quite awful for those involved. It's horrible to think that this can happen in this day and age.

"There have been a lot of cutbacks, not just in Edinburgh but across the board.

"Sheltered Housing complexes are losing their wardens, home-help visits that used to be an hour are now cut to half an hour, and those that were half an hour are now 15 minutes.

"All these things can contribute to someone not getting what they need, and perhaps because of all this some people aren't getting picked up by the services who would have been before."

The next closest health board for malnutrition numbers was Glasgow, where there were 166 cases. In neighbouring Fife there were 67 cases and 38 incidents in the Borders.

A source at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, where an estimated one in five patients has dementia, said it was difficult for the NHS to predict who would come in with malnutrition, and it was only once they had been registered that help could be sought.

The source said: "If you have an elderly woman who lives alone and is proud to be independent it can be easy for her not to be known to either the council or the NHS. It is only when the hospital admission comes that these services can be implemented."

They added that improved recording of malnutrition in the Lothians could explain much higher rates than other areas of the country.

The figures were released through the Scottish Parliament after a question by the Liberal Democrat's health spokesman Ross Finnie, who described the current situation as "simply unacceptable".

In addition to those who were admitted to hospital with malnutrition, 12 people died in Lothians hospitals, a fall on previous years.

As well as a rise in elderly malnutrition, the Lothians is already facing a dementia timebomb. It is estimated there will be an extra 5000 cases detected in the next 15 years.

Cllr Lesley Hinds, Labour's spokeswoman on health and social care in Edinburgh, said: "This is frightening. There are more people being cared for in their home rather than hospital, which we all support, but perhaps it means they are more prone to not eating properly.

"People do find if they are on their own it can be harder to keep eating the right things at the right time. It is something that needs to be sorted out because it isn't acceptable."