SIX hospital trusts across Greater Manchester and Cheshire spent less than £7 a day feeding sick patients over the last year, new figures revealed.

The information, which has been published by the NHS Information Centre, shows that East Cheshire NHS Trust - which runs hospitals in Macclesfield, Congleton and Knutsford - paid just £3.51 per patient on food each day in 2007-08.

Many others in the region were well below the national average bill of £7.15.

Second worst was Salford Royal Hospital, where patients had £5.02 spent on their meals each day, while Royal Bolton Hospital spent £5.03.

University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust - which includes Wythenshawe Hospital - spent £5.09, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust paid £5.66 and the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust spent £6.21 per patient.

It also shows that some north west NHS Trusts spend three times as much as others on meals.

At The Christie, bosses spent £11.41 on food and drink for patients each day - the greatest amount in Greater Manchester.

Home-made roast beef with roast potatoes, grilled chicken breast, luxury lamb casserole and roast pork sandwiches feature on a typical menu at the cancer hospital.

But the hospital in Withington threw out 23 per cent of meals - the highest in the region and fifth highest in the country.

Roger Goss, co-director of Patient Concern, said food was very variable across the NHS. He said: "Every hospital is a law unto itself and can decide how much or little to spend on patient food. The Department of Health came up with an initiative to improve hospital food under Lloyd Grossman - but it didn't make any difference.

"In some hospitals the food is so bad that you would be better off in prison and eating the food there. Patients are coming out malnourished."

A spokesman for East Cheshire NHS Trust, said: "The Trust regards mealtimes as an important part of a patient's rehabilitation and like any other treatment we provide, compromising quality is not an option."

A spokesman for The Christie Hospital said most patients lose their appetite when having cancer treatment and may not want to eat, which is why food is sometimes thrown away'.

A Department of Health spokesman said an assessment by the Audit Commission in 2002 `found no relationship between the amount spent on food and its quality'.