The NHS is surveying the public and its staff to see if it should impose a tax on sugary drinks being sold in its hospitals, or ban them altogether.
The question comes after trials in four UK hospitals, which have shown that both options are viable. In one of the trials, one hospital that banned sugary drinks found the overall total number of drinks sold did not change, so there were no financial implications for vendors.
Any drinks with added sugar, such as sweetened milk drinks or fruit juices, would be affected. A 20 per cent tax on these drinks would raise between £20m and £40m a year, it is predicted, and this money would be reinvested into the NHS, for schemes to keep the NHS’s 1.3 million employees fit, as well as patient based charities.
“It’s hard to see how a ban on soft drinks can be justified given that the sector has led the way in reducing consumers’ sugar intake – down by over 17 per cent since 2012,” said Gavin Partington, of the British Soft Drinks Association.
“In 2015 we also became the only category to set a calorie reduction target of 20 per cent by 2020. Given that the government is looking to introduce a soft drinks tax in 2018 it seems slightly odd that another public body wishes to duplicate this process.”
Chief executive of the NHS Simon Stevens said: “Confronted by rising obesity, type 2 diabetes and child dental decay, it’s time for the NHS to practice what we preach.
“By ploughing the proceeds of any vendor fees back into staff health and patient charities, these proposals are a genuine win-win opportunity to both improve health and cut future illness cost burdens for the NHS.
