A multi-million cash injection for a drugs rehabilitation programme in England has produced only a handful of success stories, it was revealed today.

Nurses will be asked to weigh patients weekly as part of a Government plan to stop the elderly starving to death in hospitals and care homes.

A massive £130 million funding boost for drug addiction treatment has led to only 70 more users quitting drugs – at a cost of almost £1.9 million each.

{mosimage}Spending on drug services in England rose by 50 per cent from £253 million in 2004-05 to £384 million last year, figures from the National Treatment Agency have revealed.

But over the same period the numbers leaving treatment programmes ‘clean’ – having successfully beaten their addictions – crept up by just 1.2 per cent from 5,759 to 5,829.

The figures have sparked fierce criticism, with opposition MPs demanding an urgent inquiry by independent spending watchdogs, and accusing ministers of “incompetence and distorted priorities”.

Critics claim the Government has focussed too much on getting greater numbers of addicts into treatment while paying little attention to the outcome of the expensive courses.

Last week there was outrage when it emerged that many treatment centres routinely offer addicts extra drugs – including heroin substitutes and anti-depressants – as a reward for providing drug-free urine samples.

Children’s charities have welcomed the government’s plans for a cross-departmental child poverty unit but say more funding is needed to halve child poverty by 2010.

The government must step up its battle against child poverty, ministers admitted yesterday, as they announced a new unit to coordinate work on the issue.

Plans to relocate cancer care services an extra 13 miles away, affecting patients in Barnoldswick and Earby, have been put on hold temporarily.