Dietitians Week 2-6 June 2025

Dietitians: It’s About Nutrition. It’s About Money.

When people think about dietitians, the first thing that comes to mind is often food advice or meal plans. But what if we told you that dietitians are helping to reduce hospital admissions, cut NHS costs, free up bed space, and support patients to live longer, healthier lives?

Whether working on wards, in outpatient clinics, or in GP practices, dietitians are delivering real results – for patients, for staff, and for the wider NHS. And increasingly, the evidence is clear: investing in dietetic services isn’t just good clinical practice – it makes financial sense too.

The Problem We’re Not Talking About Enough: Malnutrition

It’s easy to assume malnutrition only affects a small number of people, but the reality is far more serious.

A new report by the Future Health Research Centre has revealed that:

• 2.9 million people in England are living with disease-related malnutrition.
• 464,000 hospital admissions each year involve someone with malnutrition — that’s over 50 people per hour.
• Just 2% of those are formally diagnosed, meaning the vast majority go unidentified and unsupported.
• The additional cost to the NHS of someone who is malnourished is £7,775 per year.
• £1 in every £5 of NHS spend is linked to patients with disease-related malnutrition.

And the burden isn’t spread equally. Malnutrition is more common among older adults, people with cancer, COPD, dementia, and those in areas with higher deprivation. Some ICBs are spending 20% of their budgets on patients with malnutrition.

The Dietitian Difference

This is where dietitians come in — quietly transforming care behind the scenes, and delivering results that benefit patients and the NHS alike.

A recent review found that dietitian-led care led to:

• 2.1–2.6 days fewer in hospital for cancer patients (Smith et al., 2022)
• 8.9% lower admission rates and 9% lower mortality
• Better control of cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and BMI (Sikand et al., 2023)
• Older patients in general practice saw improvements in frailty and strength, with dietitian-led care delivering £15,000 savings on supplement prescribing alone (Hickson et al., 2022)

Even more striking, services led or supported by dietitians are saving significant NHS resources:

• A feeding tube clinic saved 174 surgical bed days by preventing avoidable admissions (Anulty et al., 2023)
• A Danish team added a dietitian post-discharge and saved 243 hospital days, and cut per-patient costs by €3,048 (Pohju et al., 2016)
• In renal clinics, dietetic support reduced daily healthcare costs and unplanned admissions (Notaras et al., 2022)

What Does That Mean for the NHS?

The financial case is clear: dietitians don’t cost — they save.

Some interventions show per-patient savings of £500 to £8,000, with outcomes like:

• Fewer readmissions
• Shorter hospital stays
• Reduced prescribing
• Less pressure on primary care

In Gloucestershire, our dietitians (Brown et al., 2020) led a pilot project screening patients at risk of malnutrition, which led to:

• 49% reduction in hospital admissions
• 48% shorter length of stay
• 21% fewer GP appointments
• 30% fewer antibiotic prescriptions

Where Do We Go From Here?

To really tackle malnutrition, and give patients the best chance of recovery, we need to:

• Screen more patients routinely — especially in hospital, care homes, and primary care
• Refer earlier — especially those with frailty, cancer, or long-term conditions
• Use dietitians as a key part of prevention and recovery in major condition pathways

The upcoming Major Conditions Strategy is a chance to make nutrition a core part of NHS planning. But at a local level, we all have a part to play.

This Dietitians Week, Let’s Recognise the Value

Dietitians are doing more than helping people eat better — they’re delivering safer care, faster recovery, and better value for the NHS.

Their work often flies under the radar — but the difference they make is everywhere: in the hospital beds freed up, the patients who don’t bounce back into A&E, the older adult who avoids a fall, the cancer patient who’s strong enough for chemo.

This week, we’re proud to shine a spotlight on our dietitians — and the incredible impact they’re making across our Trust.

References

Anulty, L., Rhatigan, M., & Donoghue, A. (2023). The benefit of a dietetic led, reactive enteral feeding tube clinic in preventing avoidable hospital admissions and emergency department presentations. Clinical Nutrition ESPEN, 58, 628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnesp.2023.09.598

Brown, F., Fry, G., Cawood, A., & Stratton, R. (2020). Economic impact of implementing malnutrition screening and nutritional management in older adults in general practice. The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging, 24(3), 305–311. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-020-1331-6

Collinson, S., & Evans, L. (2020). The impact of dietitians in the multidisciplinary practice team within primary care [Final report]. University of Plymouth & BDA. https://glosprimarycare.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Final-report-for-BDA_2020-PCN-study-examples.pdf

Future Health Research Centre. (2024). Hiding in plain sight: Tackling malnutrition as part of the prevention agenda. Future Health & Danone UK & Ireland. https://www.futurehealth-research.com/publications/hiding-in-plain-sight

Hickson, M., MacDonald, B., & Arikawa, M. (2022). Impact of a dietitian in general practice: Care of the frail and malnourished. Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, 35(1), 145–153. https://doi.org/10.1111/jhn.12942

Notaras, S., Howell, M., Howard, K., & Makris, A. (2022). Health service costs for a predialysis dietetic clinic: A retrospective cost analysis study. Journal of Renal Nutrition, 32(2), 199–206. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.jrn.2021.02.006

Pohju, A., Beck, A. M., & Schroll, M. (2016). Adding a dietitian to a Danish liaison-team after discharge of geriatric patients at nutritional risk may save health care costs. Aging Science, 4(159). https://doi.org/10.4172/2329-8847.1000159

Schuetz, P., Fehr, R., Baechli, V., Geiser, M., Deiss, M., Gomes, F., Kutz, A., Tribolet, P., Bregenzer, T., & Braun, N. (2021). Cost savings associated with nutritional support in medical inpatients: An economic model based on data from a systematic review of randomised trials. BMJ Open, 11(7), e046402. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-046402

Sikand, G., Lee, A., & Ballou, M. (2023). Medical nutrition therapy provided by dietitians is effective and saves healthcare costs in the management of adults with dyslipidemia. Current Atherosclerosis Reports, 25(6), 331–342. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11883-023-01096-0

Smith, L., Echeverria, S., & Wheeler, S. (2022a). Value-based care outcomes in pancreatic cancer patients with and without access to registered dietitians: A retrospective cohort study of patients enrolled in the Oncology Care Model. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 40(16 Suppl 1), e16249. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2022.40.16_suppl.e16249

Smith, L., Echeverria, S., & Wheeler, S. (2022b). Examining value-based care outcomes in gastric and esophageal patients with and without access to registered dietitians: A retrospective cohort study. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 40(4 Suppl), 264. https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.2022.40.4_suppl.264

Sulo, S., Feldstein, J., Partridge, J., Mills, R., Nash, A., Dabbous, F., & Sriram, K. (2020). Nutrition interventions deliver value in healthcare: Real-world evidence. Nutrition and Dietary Supplements, 12, 139–146. https://doi.org/10.2147/NDS.S262364