Hospital food league table

Shops, restaurants and catering companies that sell food in NHS hospitals have been rated for their commitment to healthy eating.

Compiled by health campaigners, the new league table ranks high-street brands according to how well they meet NHS England targets on healthy checkouts, food advertising and price promotions in hospitals.

Winners and losers

The Royal Voluntary Service (RVS) comes out top in the Healthy Hospital Food League Table, whilst Subway and Burger King sit at the bottom of the rankings for failing to meet NHS targets for promotion of healthier food.

RVS has met all of the NHS England healthy eating targets in advance of the deadline, and gets special recognition for going one step further and rolling out the higher Scottish NHS healthcare retail standard across all 220 RVS shops in English Hospitals by March 2018.

In a disappointing result, sandwich retailer Subway – which has 12 stores in hospitals – has failed to meet three out of the four targets for promoting healthy food. It flounders at the bottom of the league table with Burger King, which still has one fast-food outlet remaining in Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.

Neither of these brands has cooperated to meet food promotion targets set by this NHS England initiative to make the healthier options the easier option when buying food in hospitals.

‘It’s disappointing that subway and Burger King alone, out of all the major brands serving food in hospitals, are the only two we found not to be working towards NHS England targets on promotion of healthier food. The healthier option should be the easier option in hospitals, and at the moment Subway and Burger King appear to be holding back moves towards a healthier NHS. And through their formal partnerships with hospital caterers, they are also appear to be holding back those caterers from doing better in the Healthy Hospital Food League Table.’

KATHERINE BUTTON
Campaign for Better Hospital Food

Targets for food brands

Earlier this year, after successful pressure from the Campaign for Better Hospital Food, NHS England set targets for healthier checkouts, food advertising and price promotions for shops, cafés and restaurants serving food on hospital grounds.

Brands operating in hospitals have to meet these targets (called CQUIN targets) by March 2017, or risk NHS England withholding much-needed funds.