More than half of the older patients in Britain's hospitals suffer from malnutrition which may set back their recovery because nurses do not have time to help them eat, a survey has found.

Age Concern claims that lives are being put at risk and hospital resources are being drained of billions of pounds each year because of the problem, which it blames on lack of time for overstretched nursing staff.

In a survey of 500 nurses, nine out of 10 said they did not always have time to help patients who needed help with eating and drinking, the charity says.

The survey also claims that 60 per cent of older patients - who occupy two-thirds of general hospital beds - were at risk of becoming malnourished or seeing their health get worse.

Those aged over 80 were particularly at risk, having a five times higher rate of malnutrition than the under-50s, according to the charity.

The problem does not rest with a lack of food, but with an apparent lack of supervision of whether or not it is eaten after it is delivered. Many elderly or vulnerable patients, particularly those with Alzheimer's, memory loss or disabilities, need help with feeding.

Speaking this morning, Caroline Flint, the health minister, conceded that "some people are not getting the service they deserve" - but claimed that the Government had set in place guidelines which hospitals should follow to deal with the problem. She claimed it was up to the hospital managers and nurses themselves to act on it if their institutions were failing to perform.

Referring to malnutrition, she said: "I am afraid to say there are still places, probably too many, where this still happens," adding: "There is no excuse for people coming into our hospitals not being fed properly."

Ms Flint said 85,000 extra nurses had been introduced into the NHS and 3,000 matrons to provide a greater level of care.

She added that new initiatives had been introduced, such as prioritised meal times - where nurses focus entirely on patients' eating - and "red tray" policies, where those patients with dietary problems are particularly earmarked for extra time.

Ms Flint said Age Concern's findings could be misinterpreted because 40 per cent of elderly people being admitted into hospital were already malnourished. She urged Age Concern to share its findings with the Department of Health to identify hospitals where malnutrition was a problem.

"What they are saying is that six out of 10 patients are at risk of being malnourished. That includes those people who came in malnourished," she said.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said the findings highlighted the serious consequences of under-staffing on hospital wards.

Research shows that malnourished patients stay in hospital for longer, are three times as likely to develop complications during surgery, and have a higher mortality rate.

The cost of malnutrition to the health service is also estimated to exceed £7.3 billion a year, according to figures from the British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.

Gordon Lishman, director-general of Age Concern, said: "Hospitals are in danger of becoming bad for the health of older people.

"The majority of older patients are being denied some of the basic care they need, leaving hundreds of thousands of older patients malnourished.

"It is shocking that the dignity of patients is being overlooked, and that Age Concern has to run a campaign to fight for the implementation of such simple measures.

"From ward to board, everyone needs to address this problem."

• Join the debate

• You may also send Dr Thomas Stuttaford your questions on care of the elderly in hospital. He will answer them online at 12 noon on Thursday, September 7

Explore Health News

• Swine flu

Times Recommends

• How I lost the gift of joy for a while
• Why Ann Widdecombe has got it wrong
• Alas, it’s the end of the road for petrolheads