New Cross Hospital's Greggs the second busiest in country
A branch of Greggs at a Midland hospital is the second busiest in the country, it has been revealed, as a nationwide crackdown was launched on fast food being sold to patients and their families.
New Cross Hospital chief executive David Loughton said he had been told 'on good authority' that the hospital's Greggs store by the maternity unit was the second busiest of the bakery giant's 1,661 UK stores.
The revelation comes as NHS bosses urge hospitals to stop fuelling the country's obesity epidemic.
It is believed that 92 branches of Costa Coffee - which recently came under fire for selling fruit drinks with four times the recommended daily sugar limits - are among the 160 NHS trusts in England, including at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.
Burger King and Subway also have branches in some hospitals.
Bosses at New Cross Hospital have made health eating a priority and given their support to an anti-obesity campaign being launched by Wolverhampton director of Public Health, Ros Jervis.
But Mr Loughton said queues at the Greggs store - which is open seven days a week for an average of 12 hours a day - were often '20-deep', with dividing ropes frequently required to separate hungry customers desperate for their fix of sausage rolls and steak bakes.
The trust recently teamed up with Wolverhampton City Council in a campaign to tackle what health chiefs have termed the 'ticking time bomb' of the city's obesity crisis.
Mr Loughton added: "There's a café on site that sells all healthy food, but it gets nowhere near the footfall that Greggs gets.
"You can understand the appeal. It is relatively cheap.
"People say 'ban the fast-food places' but I don't think that will ever work. We have to change people's mentality regarding the food they eat."
Ros Jervis, Wolverhampton City Council's director of public health, said the hospital needs to do more to help battle bulging waistlines in the city.
"All sectors must do their bit, including the NHS," she said.
"Yet the obesogenic environment that exists in the city is repeated in our hospital.
"Here in New Cross Greggs is the main choice for going for something to eat.
"I have to throw down the challenge. How can you support the work we have going on here?"
Greggs say they offer fast service – not fast-food, yet the calorie counts on many of the stores most popular products are sky high.
A Greggs chicken bake contains 410 calories, chicken club baguette 530 calories, sausage roll 360 calories and a slice of pizza 450 calories.
The firm said it was company policy not to reveal what its busiest shops were.
Simon Stevens, the head of NHS England, said the health service had to take 'hard-nosed action' to end the sale of junk food in hospitals, to help tackle the obesity crisis.
