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NHS staff ‘could be incentivised to lose weight’ says NHS England head

NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens has said the NHS should incentivise staff to eat healthier and lose weight to provide an example for other organisations, reports have claimed.

The Sun newspaper claims on its front page today that Mr Stevens recalled how he lost three stone over the past three years helped by an employer incentive scheme while working in the US.

He said the NHS could offer similar incentives.

Mr Stevens said: ‘The fact that as a nation we’ve all been putting on the pounds for several years is bad for our health and bad for the health service.’

‘It’s hard for the NHS to talk about how important this is if we don’t get our own act together. I think the NHS has got to take an example in helping our own staff and hopefully other employers will follow suit.’

He added: ‘A lot of the food in hospital canteens, not just for patients, but for staff, is chips and burgers.’

‘The NHS as an employer, for our own nurses and other staff, could we offer positive incentives? Yes, I think we could.’

‘And some hospitals have begun doing that.’


          

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