Many people come and go through hospitals on a daily basis, whether as a member of staff, a patient or visiting loved ones. With the PHE’s (Public Health England) Smokefree NHS campaign helping patients, staff and visitors to quit smoking, could this also lead the NHS into making a difference through its food and drink options?
NHS has actually made a commitment to ensure the NHS as an employer sets a national example relating to food and drink sold on its premises through its five year forward view. This also translates into better patient care, by making healthier choices available to everyone, while enabling staff to lead by example and inform patients and the public about how diet can improve health. Where do vending machines fit in to all this?
Presenting healthy options
According to Public Health England 39% of vended cold drinks in the UK were said to be “low sugar, diet or water”, and 14% of snacks are labelled as “healthier”. With the NHS being the UK’s biggest employer, healthier vending could offer a significant opportunity to encourage healthy consumption habits amongst NHS staff, as well as patients and visitors.
Chocolate bars and fizzy drinks can provide that helpful sugar boost, but turning a vending machine like the Merchant Media 2 into a CQUIN compliant refreshment solution, to provide healthier options (Eat Natural snack bars, Diet Coke, Pepsi MAX etc.) in hospitals may ensure people are nourished without overdoing the sweet treats.
Solutions for the healthcare sector
We know that helping to promote healthier eating and drinking is important, it is also crucial that we improve the user experience. At Refreshment Systems we are driving that technological revolution within the vending industry.
We are becoming more connected everyday and we are working hard to ensure that our operations are the most efficient, so our customers have the best experience.
We have lots of exciting ways that we can help cater to the requirements of employees, patients and visitors:
- Managed vending: Fitted with the latest contactless payment technology, the customer experience has improved massively.
- Cafes and self fill options: With the help of our technology options, we can take away a lot of day-to-day stress.
- Ward beverage trolleys: Designed and developed to make manoeuvring around busy wards easier.
If you are interested in our solutions to help the healthcare sector, get in touch with Refreshment Systems on 0800 169 3686.
