Obesity fears as Costa contagion spreads in NHS

Doctors have raised health warnings over the prevalence of costa coffee shops in hospitals.

the chain, which serves sugary drinks alongside calorieheavy cakes and snacks, has at least one outlet in two in five major hospitals in England and Wales.

But this rises to two in three in London – with one hospital having four of the coffee shops on site.

Experts warned that costa’s sugary menu is an unsuitable match for a hospital environment – especially at a time when Britain is facing an obesity epidemic. obesity-related illnesses cost the health service billions of pounds every year, and one in four nurses are severely overweight.

But at many hospitals visitors and staff are hard-pushed to avoid the array of junk food on offer. King’s college Hospital, which featured in hit tV show 24 Hours in A&E, has four costas – some within yards of each other.

there are three in hospital wings, while another independent outlet serves costa in the Dental Institute on the same complex in camberwell, south London. But King’s is far from alone. city Hospital Birmingham advertises three, while the royal London Hospital in Whitechapel and Leeds General Infirmary both have two.

Around two in five major hospitals with A&E departments have at least one fully-stocked costa. costa says it says it has a total of 81 stores in 74 hospitals, but its products are also sold through many other hospital coffee shops.

options include a portion of a triple layer lemon cake at 599 calories, a triple chocolate muffin at 405 calories and a bacon roll at 389 calories. A medium hot chocolate is 357 calories with 15.2g of fat and 32.1g of sugar. Alan taman, of pressure group Doctors for the NHs, said: ‘this is a symptom of a larger ill. Is the near-universal presence of costa [in hospitals] really the best fit of quality and principles?

‘ costa need to sell more healthy snacks. If you are stuck in a waiting room ... the market approach can lead people towards unhealthy foods.’ In 2014, NHs boss simon stevens said the NHs would take ‘hardnosed action’ to end the sale of junk food in hospitals.

However, chains selling cakes and sugary drinks are still the norm. Dr sally Norton, a surgeon specialising in weight loss, said only a blanket ban on unhealthy food would decrease habitual snacking. ‘If you go into a hospital you should be bombarded with healthy food options’, she said.

costa said: ‘over the past two years costa has worked closely with NHs England to tailor changes for hospital stores, improving our range of healthier options available wherever possible. We also provide accessible and meaningful nutritional information.’

King’s college Hospital NHs Foundation trust said: ‘Each of the food outlets on site have healthy choices ... the majority of items display nutritional values.’

‘Need to sell more healthy snacks’