£8 toothpaste at WH Smith hospital shop

Such ripoffs must stop says NHS chief

hospital shops must stop ripping customers off, the head of the Nhs said yesterday. simon stevens said some retailers were taking advantage of their ability to get away with high prices.

Whsmith has been criticised for charging £7.99 for a single tube of toothpaste in a hospital shop.

Nappies, mouthwash and other essentials were also being flogged with significant mark-ups.

‘these retailers should think again about jacked-up prices which affect poorly patients, their family visitors, and hardworking hospital staff,’ Mr stevens told the Daily telegraph.

‘Just because some of these shops may have the ability to get away with it, doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do.’

the costly toothpaste was on sale at pinderfields General hospital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. the same 75ml tube costs only 80p at tesco and £1 in Boots.

it comes despite Whsmith promising to cut prices in hospital shops in 2015 after Mps criticised the difference in prices with its own high street shops.

Marc leaf, 45, visited the shop on thursday to buy toothpaste for his girlfriend who was in hospital.

accusing the shop of ‘extortion’, he said: ‘Everything in there is totally ridiculous.

‘a hospital is a place where people go to get better. they aren’t at their best and are usually at their most vulnerable. it’s the last place they should be taken advantage of, but this price tag is just totally taking the mick.

‘it’s £7.99 for a tube of toothpaste that i’ve seen for £1 in a home Bargains store or a pound shop. i looked around and there were a lot of people about who are less fortunate than others.

‘it’s absolutely outrageous. i asked the assistant, “is this right?” and they said it was. i was gobsmacked. it’s extortion. they are cashing in on sick people who can’t go elsewhere. something needs to be done. in the end i went for the tiny travel size one and it was £2.69. that’s still ridiculous.’

Whsmith has 610 shops on the high street and 839 ‘travel outlets’ – shops in airports, railway stations, motorway service areas, hospitals and workplaces. of these, 129 are in hospitals.

the price at the hospital in Wakefield was highlighted on twitter by a reporter at the health service Journal.

Responding to the tweet, one person said: ‘they’ve been warned just a couple years ago for price gouging. if that isn’t an accidental mistake then they need to be fined.’

another added: ‘please tell me this isn’t true. absolutely horrible to think the cost of a product vital to oral health is spiked because someone is unwell in a hospital. this should be provided on wards regardless.’

last month it was reported that the retailer had recorded a 1 per cent fall in pre-tax profits to £82million for the six months to February 28, while total group revenue was flat at £643million.

Whsmith said it was a ‘pricing error’. a spokesman said: ‘We would like to apologise to our customers for a recent pricing error in our system relating to this product.

‘While the wrong price was effective we sold a total of 89 units. the total proceeds from these sales (£711) will be donated to charity.

‘the error has been rectified and changed to the correct price of £2.49.’

‘Totally taking the mick’