CONVICTED criminals are having up to four times as much spent on their meals as patients being treated in Merseyside hospitals. The Government has admitted that up £12 a day is being allocated to police forces for each prisoner they are asked to put up in cells when prisons become to full. As a result, the cost of just one meal for a prisoner staying in a police cell will cost the same as all three daily meals cost hospital bosses at Wirral Hospitals NHS Trust, which spends £3.02 a day. Even prisoners at HMP Liverpool have more spent on them per day – £3.34 – than patients at Wirral Hospitals. The £12 allowance covers prisoners being held in police cells as part of Operation Safeguard, the Home Office scheme introduced to alleviate prison overcrowding. Merseyside Police had to provide such cover toward the end of last year, and housed 123 prisoners over 58 days. The daily allowance to be spent on food for those prisoners is also just under three times the daily amount spent by the Liverpool Women’s Hospital (£4.02), and only just under four times the amount spent by Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals (£3.51). The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen Hospitals Trust spends £4.11 a day, a figure beaten by more than 60 prisons nationally, including HMP Preston in Lancashire, which spends £4.60 a day, according to Government figures. Styal Women’s Prison in Cheshire spends £4.74. The highest amount spent in the region by hospitals is £7.38, at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital. Last night, hospitals insisted their economies of scale enabled them to provide high-quality meals at low prices, but health experts called on the Government to provide hospitals with extra cash. Modi Mwatsama, food and health programme manager at the Heart of Mersey campaign, said: “It is indefensible that there should be a difference in catering budgets. “Good physical health through a nutritionally balanced diet is important for the recovery of patients and for the successful rehabilitation of prisoners which is the aim of our penal system. “Although the Department of Health recognises that hospitals have a responsibility to offer healthy nutritious food in its institutions, this priority is not reflected in the allocation of budgets or in the performance management measures on which hospitals have to report.” Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers Alliance campaign group, said: “It is an absolute disgrace that we have a situation where convicted criminals have more spent on them than good, honest citizens who happen to be in hospital. “We are always being told more and more money is being spent on the NHS, but where is it going? We are just seeing more and more management, and fewer doctors and frontline staff. The figures over food are a classic example that it is all going horribly wrong. “It also shows just how much the prison crisis is costing us.” Hospitals last night defended their spending. Sally-Ann Connolly, head of catering at Wirral Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We go to great lengths to source the highest quality of food at the best possible prices. “The trust regards mealtimes as an important part of a patient’s rehabilitation and, like any other treatment we provide, quality is never compromised. “Additionally, we do operate a buy-in/ready-prepared patient meal service so the cost of our meals and snacks relates to provisions only. Other NHS trusts may spend less on provisions but accrue higher labour costs, which generates a higher overall amount.” | 
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