All the tea in china: hospitals ditch disposable cups

HOSPITALS are bringing back china crockery as an investigation reveals the NHS has used more than 600million disposable cups in the past five years.

Data obtained through Freedom of Information requests show that NHS trusts in England have purchased 609,830,335 disposable cups since 2013, for use with drinks and to dispense medicines. One London trust, Guy’s and St Thomas’, purchased almost 30 million cups over the period.

There can be clinical reasons for single-use cups – such as avoiding glass in some mental health wards but trusts said they were bringing back china, and banning disposable cups on wards.

The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust said patients had access to china cups and glassware. York Hospital’s wards also use crockery for drinks.

A spokesman from Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust said it “includes a large dental hospital where a high number of plastic cups are used in a clinical setting”.