UK Sugar Tax to be imposed by 2020 on all NHS Hospitals

originally posted by: Cobaltic1978

originally posted by: johnb
THIS IS NOT A TAX !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The NHS is just raising the price of certain items in its on site vending machines.

You will still be able to buy water,tea,coffee (which is cheaper anyway) if you need a drink while visiting a sick relative.

This way those who can't do without their koolaid fix for more than an hour can help subsidise the hospital that will be providing their obesity/diabetic care over the rest of their life.

I think it's a great idea

Maybe help keep the parking prices down too with a bit of luck as the hospital trusts will be making more cash - maybe they will even be able to afford better equipment, more beds or staff.


Flame on

It's not a tax? The NHS are going to receive extra revenue by increasing the price of sugary food stuffs?

In my book that's a tax.

The NHS is already receiving revenue by selling goods on site. Do you consider it a tax buying a Twix out of the WRVS?

a reply to: SlapMonkey

I could easily argue that the cost of medical issues should not be the responsibility of the collective,

I guess you could. But doesn't the UK have socialized medicine? So, you're sort of moot.

Perhaps they should only tax the sugar at the point of production to make it simpler. Basically the companies who make the cereal, chocolates, soft drinks, etc etc .. should be taxed on the volume of sugar they are actually consuming to make their products. This way you are taxing a basket of companies rather than try to keep tabs on thousands of retailers and millions of citizen consumers you know??

Not that I support a sugar tax (or do I ), but it may be logistically simpler to tax the point of production and simply add the cost to the product.

There is a larger issue here and that is the comparable prices of healthy food versus the cheap, nasty, junky kind.

My daughter is mostly a vegetarian, she eats a little fish now and then, but no meat at all. Her choice, and as long as she is sensible about her diet I see no reason to insist on her changing.

She was telling me that the school canteen charges £1.20 for a small pack of diced up fruit, yet only £1.40 for half a pizza.

Now you think about that. Mass produced pizza has pretty much nothing that is good for you in it, yet if you are looking after your money and need something that will fill you up for the rest of the day, it's the only option available. (She doesn't even consider the meat pies, sausage rolls etc for obvious reasons).

It would make sense to add 20p to the price of the pizza and subtract that money from the price of the fruit, but since the school canteens are almost all outsourced to private companies, they will continue to push the things they make the most profit from.

a reply to: ScepticScot they make a fair amount from charging for parking too, unless you are having prolonged treatment. I've just done 2 months radiotherapy with free parking and they even payed for my dads petrol too, which I thought was generous, so can't complain.
I don't have a major problem with a sugar tax. Obesity is costing the NHS a lot of money and causing all sorts of problems, for medical staff who can't move certain people in their beds, can't prop them up, can't transfer them from one bed to another, can't get patients in and out of scanners, can't find care in the community, so more bed blocking. Obesity is also to blame for many other illnesses which keep the patient coming back into the hospital with heart conditions or cancer.

a reply to: woodwardjnr

Parking varies a lot from hospital to hospital and trust to trust. I understand the need for charges in city centre hospitals but there should well though out exception schemes for people who have to make repeat visits and there is no real excuse for more rural hospitals.

Hope you are better now.

What it's like when you're an American using Britain's NHS
uk.businessinsider.com...

originally posted by: woodwardjnr
What it's like when you're an American using Britain's NHS
uk.businessinsider.com...

That was a good piece, I especially liked the quip about the Roller

originally posted by: woodwardjnr
What it's like when you're an American using Britain's NHS
uk.businessinsider.com...

That was really insightful...

So my overall impression is that currently, the Brits' complaints that the NHS isn't hitting that 95% mark is akin to saying, "This Rolls Royce isn't moving fast enough!"

...just goes to show the benefits of looking at things through other people's eyes.

This though seems to sum up the difference between the US and the UK as succinctly, and politely, all things considered, as can be.

The US never discourages patients from doing anything. I've never seen any kind of public campaign to persuade patients to apply some common sense before dropping themselves off at an emergency room. The entire US pharmaceutical industry is also dedicated to running ads encouraging people to "go see your doctor" for even the most trivial of conditions.

In the UK "value for money" and "best practice" in the use of public monies, while providing a truly remarkable "product", has driven efficency and innovative use of resources...though the PFI element remains a potential powder keg.

Excellent article, interesting. Thanks.

originally posted by: SprocketUK
She was telling me that the school canteen charges £1.20 for a small pack of diced up fruit, yet only £1.40 for half a pizza.

Now you think about that. Mass produced pizza has pretty much nothing that is good for you in it, yet if you are looking after your money and need something that will fill you up for the rest of the day, it's the only option available. (She doesn't even consider the meat pies, sausage rolls etc for obvious reasons).

The option is always there to take a pack-up.

Canteens can only meet so many needs within the allotted budgets, and prepared fruit is labour intensive, and often bought in pre-packaged, hence additional costs. Whole fruit, an apple or banana, by comparison, tends to be inexpensive. Our children do need carbohydrates, the pizza will provide that, though we should aim for them to be a little more complex than we get from white flour, as long as they are eating well at home (and of course many children are not), it should all just form part of a balanced diet. Most schools have to provide a vegetarian alternative, not just for vegetarians but also to cater for those ethnicities with meat restricted dietry needs, if they are not, they are not meeting their remit and your daughter should complain.

a reply to: Anaana

That's very true, but we all know that there are a load of kids who's parents wont go to the trouble. They send them in with money and the evening meal is some microwave thing or takeout.

If school offered better alternatives, it would reduce the problems, but it wont happen as long as the providers need to show a profit.


I would say that as long as 80% f what you consume is "good" stuff, you'll be alright.

originally posted by: SprocketUK
a reply to: Anaana

That's very true, but we all know that there are a load of kids who's parents wont go to the trouble. They send them in with money and the evening meal is some microwave thing or takeout.

If school offered better alternatives, it would reduce the problems, but it wont happen as long as the providers need to show a profit.


I would say that as long as 80% f what you consume is "good" stuff, you'll be alright.

Apart from the drinks side of things, and as stated, pre-packaged items, which is where they seem to try and squeeze the profit from, my child's school meals, both at primary and secondary level, have been excellent and great value for money. We may have been more fortunate than most, much depends upon the postcode lottery, but credit where credit is due, the balance between taste (which if it doesn't taste good, it doesn't matter how nutritional it is, if it is only benefiting the dustbin) and nutritional value is good. BUT, that element of meeting the needs of children who are neglected nutritionally within the home environment, is a incredibly difficult area to accommodate. Many schools, in deprived areas, are having to provide breakfast just so that the children can maintain focus through the morning. It's a tough one, no easy solution.

Sugar is basically a poison, reducing the amount we consume is obviously a good thing, but as another poster said its the companies who put it in their food products who should be taxed.
They refuse to say how much sugar is in our food, and because the government is in bed with them it refuses to force them to tell consumers.

a reply to: ScepticScot

WRVS?? When was the last time you were in hospital lol....its W H Smith now or Costa or some other franchines...my local Hospital even has a damn restaurant on site

originally posted by: PhyllidaDavenport
a reply to: ScepticScot

WRVS?? When was the last time you were in hospital lol....its W H Smith now or Costa or some other franchines...my local Hospital even has a damn restaurant on site

My main local hospital still has the cafe/shop as a volunteer service (not wrvs). Probably not the norm now I admit (sadly)

a reply to: Phage

That doesn't negate my point, just because a system is in place that contradicts my comment.

So as predicted, there will be a sugar tax in the UK...
www.bbc.co.uk...

I still disagree with a tax on sugar in principal, but at least the money raised will be going to a good place...

"The £530m raised by a tax on the sugar content of soft drinks - the equivalent of about 18-24p per litre, the government says - will be spent on primary school sports in England, with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland free to decide how to spend their share."

Crazy world we live in. Now if they could only figure out away to tax stupidity.