The proportion of sugary drinks sold on NHS premises has been cut from 15.6% to 8.7%.
Last year, Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive, challenged trusts to reduce the sale of sugar-filled drinks to 10% or less of those bought on the premises.
So far, the equivalent of 1.1m cans of fizzy drink, and 10 million teaspoons of sugar, have been removed from sales, according to an analysis by NHS England.
“The NHS is now putting its own house in order in the fight against flab,” Stevens said. Nine out of 10 hospitals are now taking action to reduce the availability of unhealthy products.
In addition, 14 national retailers have signed up to the NHS health drive, with Boots the latest to join last week.
The NHS’s sugar reduction scheme will remain in place for the rest of the year as part of the 2018/19 NHS healthy food and drink incentive programme, with all trusts expected to sign up this autumn.
There are also proposals to make this mandatory as part of the standard contract from April 1st 2019.
