Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merit of banning the (a) sale and (b) consumption of food in hospitals that is high in (i) fat and (ii) sugar.

The National Health Service regularly reviews options to improve the provision and sale of food in hospitals. From November 2016 to July 2017 the NHS consulted on banning the sale of sugar sweetened beverages on NHS premises. Following this the NHS Action on Sugar scheme was launched and has reduced sales from 15.6% in July 2017 to 7.4% in June 2018 (as a proportion of total beverage sales in participating trusts). All 220 trusts have committed to this scheme, and 23 have stopped selling sugar sweetened beverages altogether.

A targeted incentive scheme from 2016/17 – 2018/19 aimed to improve the food available for sale on NHS premises, targeting price promotions and adverts for unhealthy food and drink, encouraging trusts to provide healthy options 24/7, and setting limits on the percentage of packaged food and confectionary meeting defined calorie limits. Engagement with providers suggests that the scheme had a notable impact in raising the profile of healthy food and drink and in supporting negotiation with industry partners to ensure hospitals can lead by example. All elements of the incentive scheme are intended to transfer to the new National Standards for Healthcare food, which are due for publication later this year and which will draw on engagement with retailers, suppliers and patients.

Patient nutrition is also currently covered by the five core standards enforced by the NHS Standard Contract which includes the Government buying standards and the British Dental Association nutrition digest. Patient menus need to meet the nutritional elements of both, including targets on sugar and fat, taking into account that catering requirements for groups who are nutritionally at risk often differ from those of the general populace. All organisations carry out nutritional screening using a tool such as the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool to identify where patients may be at risk. Work is ongoing via the Healthcare food standards and strategy group to continue to build on current guidance and targets for sugar, fat and salt.