Patients in NHS hospitals are being served meals that cost just £1 per person, figures obtained by the Daily Mirror have shown.

In 2009-10, the hospital food budgets have been reduced by 62 per cent compared to the previous five years, the paper claimed, meaning recipes have suffered as a result.

"Each hospital is allowed to decide how much it spends but the Department of Health should set a minimum amount and ringfence the budget," noted Roger Goss, co-director of Patient Concern.

He added that each hospital should be looking at where cutbacks can be made without impacting too heavily on the quality of patient care.

Mark Gleeson, membership director of Abbeyfield, recently said that elderly people need to have contact with others during meal times, as this leads to all sorts of social benefits.

Furthermore, he emphasised that food not only has the ability to give older people nutrition, but an opportunity to socialise.