Hospitals across Bucks have joined a national scheme to reduce sales of sugary drinks in a bid to tackle obesity. 

Bucks Healthcare Trust’s (BHT) catering partner Sodexo Healthcare has committed to the NHS voluntary scheme aiming to reduce sales of sugary drinks to just 10 per cent of total drinks sales.

Earlier this month it was revealed more than a third of trusts failed to sign up to the scheme – which could see the NHS impose a complete ban of sugary drinks across UK hospitals.

Director of property services at BHT, Ed Macfarlane said: “At Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust we recognise the importance of providing and promoting nutritious food and drink, and aim to support staff and visitors to make food and drink purchases that are tasty and priced to encourage healthier choices.

“This is important for the well-being of our staff and visitors, and we are working closely with our external catering providers to reduce the number of sugary drinks sold across all of our sites.”

At the beginning of April a tax on sugary soft drinks came into force in a bid to tackle the growing obesity epidemic across the country, as around 60 per cent of the UK population classed as overweight.