Obesity costs taxpayer more than the police, says NHS chief

BRITISH taxpayers are spending more on treating obesity-related conditions than on the police or fire service, the head of the National Health Service has claimed.

Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, said that around twofifths of the NHS’s workload was related to “modifiable health risk factors”, such as excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and lack of exercise.

Around £16 billion a year is spent on the direct medical costs of diabetes and conditions related to being overweight or obese. The cost to the taxpayer of the fire and police services is £13.6 billion.

Mr Stevens suggested a greater drive towards tackling the causes of soaring obesity levels could save the health service billions of pounds each year.

Speaking to MPs on the Commons health select committee, he said: “A good place to start would be childhood obesity, and obviously the sugar tax in the budget is a key building block in that.”

He said reducing the amount of salt in people’s diets had saved the NHS around £1.5 billion since 2001, and clamping down on sugar intake will have a similar effect.

“We are now spending more on obesity-related conditions in this country than we are on the police or fire service,” he told MPs.

“Action to take added sugar out of food and drinks, as we have successfully done with salt over the last 15 years, that will show up as reduced rates of type two diabetes, reduced rates of diabetic blindness, amputations.”

He also called on the Government to publish their strategy for tacking childhood obesity in England “soon” after a series of delays to its publication.