Speaking to the Guardian newspaper yesterday, Stevens said a sugar tax would be introduced by 2020 to discourage staff, patients and visitors from eating and drinking high sugar snacks. Read more here.
In response to the announcement HCA chair Phil Shelley said the proposed sugar tax is a strong step forward and should be part of a holistic approach to a healthier lifestyle for NHS staff and visitors.
Shelley said: “We note that a 20% tax seems ambitious at this point, however with the suggested phased implementation it could be achievable. We have some reservations about how expensive the visitor experience already is to hospitals and would be wary of increasing that.
“Visitors already get charged for hospital parking for example and we do need visitors to be able to come on site, especially those visiting the long term sick, at an affordable price.
“Looking at this holistically, whilst raising the price of sugary food and drink we could marginalise the impact by ensuring a reasonable price is set for nutritious alternatives.”
The HCA estimates that on average a standard sugary bottled drink in hospital vending machines costs around £1.55, with an added 20% tax this would bring the price up to £1.86.
Shelley added: “The tax however does not address the question of whether we should be offering these kind of products at all. The issue is complex and a one size does not fit all.
“We need to be sensitive to high stress environment such as A&E which perhaps could be exempt but there is a potential in the future for 90% of hospital areas to be completely free of vending machines selling sugary drinks and snacks which would navigate the need for the tax announced.
“As the leading catering association for NHS caterers we are very interested to learn how the tax will be administrated and will help to develop a collaboration platform to support our members with their contracts and tenders to ensure regulations are followed.”
When rolled out, the sugar tax is expected to raise between £20m-£40m a year, which will then go towards improving the health of its NHS staff.