Tameside Hospital's drive to reduce sugar features on national TV

Tameside Hospital has featured in an ITV Tonight programme about reducing sugar in the Hartshead Restaurant.

The first programme aired on ITV on Thursday night at 7.30pm and the second part is on tonight (Friday 30 April) at 8pm.

In the programme, former MP Tom Watson investigates how much damage refined sugar is doing to the nation's health. Three years after ditching it from his own diet - losing eight stone in the process - he discovers if others can follow his lead and asks what impact eating less sugar would have on the NHS.

Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the Ashton-based hospital, took the pioneering decision to reduce sugar within its restaurant as part of a health and wellbeing drive for staff and visitors across Tameside and Glossop.

Now three years on, the hospital is continuing to reap the benefits of providing healthier foods to support balanced diets.

Angela Brierley, Director of Transformation at the Trust, reduced sugar intake in January 2018, when the Trust pledged to reduce sugar - a decision that changed her life.

Angela is now six stone lighter and as a result healthier and fitter.

"Reducing my sugar intake has given me a new lease of life," she said. "It was much easier to do it with support at work, I work long hours and often need something quick to eat so the healthy, low sugar options have allowed me to maintain a healthier lifestyle while at work, and helped me have better control of my long-term condition.”

Former MP Tom Watson during the ITV Tonight programme 

Amanda Bromley, Director of HR with responsibility for health and wellbeing, said: "Healthy lifestyles is one of the key themes of the Trust Health and Wellbeing Strategy and something we are fully committed to.

"Busy lives, long hours and shift patterns often make it very difficult for people to make healthy choices, this is why we made the decision to help staff, and visitors, to make better choices.

"There is a wealth of evidence to suggest that looking after the health and welfare of our colleagues directly contributes to the delivery of high quality patient care." 

The Hartshead Restaurant is located on the Tameside Hospital site and is open from 7.30am to 6.30pm, serving hot and cold meals from breakfast through to supper to staff and visitors.

All of the meals served in the restaurant are freshly prepared in the kitchens onsite, using local suppliers. The Catering Team serve up to 300 meals a day in the restaurant as well as supplying a range of nutritious and healthy meals to inpatients at the hospital.

The Trust’s catering team have also won an NHS Sustainability Award for the progress they have made in stopping the use of single use plastics in the restaurant and contributing to a greener and healthier environment.