The NHS is to impose its own 20% sugar tax in hospital and leisure centre cafes across England by 2020, its head has said.
Chief executive Simon Stevens told the Guardian he hoped to gradually enforce the levy as catering and hospital shop contracts come up for renewal over the next three to five years.
He said the NHS’s 1.3 million staff had a “responsibility” to lead by example, and urged MPs to take similar action.
It is expected the NHS levy, which would initially only apply to sugary drinks, could raise £20m-£40m a year, Stevens added.
He told the paper: “Because of the role that the NHS occupies in national life, all of us working in the NHS have a responsibility not just to support those who look after patients, but also to draw attention to and make the case for some of the wider changes that will actually improve the health of this country.
“It’s not just the well-being of people in this country and our children. But it’s also the sustainability of the NHS itself.”
