Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to promote the access to and sale of healthier food options on hospital sites.

In 2014, the Department published legally-binding food standards for the National Health Service. For staff and visitor catering, this included a requirement to adhere to the Nutrition Principles within Public Health England’s guidance; ‘Healthier and More Sustainable Catering’. Hospitals are also required to develop a Food and Drink Strategy, including healthier eating for the whole hospital community.

To promote access to healthier food options in the National Health Service, in 2016, NHS England linked £450 million of incentive payments, via the national Commissioning for Quality and Innovation scheme, to improving staff health and wellbeing across all NHS trusts. Specifically, £150 million was linked to making four changes to food and drink provision:

- Banning price promotions of unhealthy food and drink;

- Banning advertisement of unhealthy food and drink;

- Removal of unhealthy food and drink from checkouts; and

- Improving affordable, healthy options for night staff.

In 2017/18 and 2018/19 NHS England is also providing a further set of incentive payments to encourage additional action by hospitals, including:

- Expanding the number of sugar free drink lines available;

- Reducing the portion size of snacks and confectionary;

- Reducing the portion size of pre packed meals; and

- Maintaining the four changes made in 2016/17 as outlined above.