Hospital meals cost the NHS, on average, 2.50 Pounds per patient per day. Costs are higher in hospitals which prepare food on site, specialist trusts and those in London. The Wanless report has proposed that expenditure should rise to 4.80 Pounds per patient per day, at today's prices, by 2022. More effort should go into cutting food wastage which currently costs hospitals in England more than 18 m Pounds a year.