PICTURED. Smoking in hospitals? Turn a blind eye. Sugary drinks in hospitals? ‘Put an end to vending machines.’ Clever, huh?
PV Editor Ian Reynolds-Young reacts to the latest news story to vilify vending.
There was much wringing of hands in vending this morning as yet another ‘let’s blame vending for the nation’s obesity’ story hit the BBC.
The story is the result of a survey, and as anyone who’s ever been in PR will tell you, a survey is one of the best routes to media coverage; so much so, that it’s almost a cliché in the ‘new business’ pitch.
A survey is something you commission in order to draw attention to yourself, your company – your agenda. Once again, it’s worked. I hadn’t heard of the World Cancer Research Fund before; I have now. The problem is, WCRF has got the exposure it desired to the detriment of the vending industry. It’s just as Dave Ward wrote recently: ‘why are we always the whipping boys?’
Amanda McLean, general manager at the WCRF, said chocolate bars, crisps and sugary soft drinks were not appropriate items to be selling in hospitals.
“Because there is strong evidence that these foods cause obesity – a risk factor in diseases such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease – they are partly to blame for many people ending up in hospital in the first place,” she said. “Hospitals should put an end to vending machines that sell only high calorie food and drink. They should be beacons of good health in our communities and encourage and support people in making healthier choices about the food they eat.”
Frankly, it’s all rather hackneyed. ‘Put an end to vending machines’, Amanda says decisively. Does she want Top Gear to drop one from a great height, as though it were a caravan? That’d put an end to the most robust vending machine. Does she think that vending machines are an Artificial Intelligence that is inherently evil? Is that why we should put and end to them?
Amanda, it’s not the vending machines that are guilty and ‘putting an end to them’ in hospitals will achieve nothing, save a fury of frustration. My local hospital has a very nice cafeteria in which one can buy a proper latte, (no semi-skimmed milk here), to go with a pecan tart topped majestically with lashings of whipped cream. The WRVS bar, staffed by volunteers, does a roaring trade in ‘tea with three sugars, please love’ and bags upon bags of crisps.
Will visitors undergo full body checks as they enter a ward, to make sure they’re not smuggling in contraband Maltesers?
Don’t blame the vending machines! Just give us a level playing field! For instance, if you’re going to ban the sale of chocolate bars in hospitals, will you also ban visitors making presents of chocolate to patients? Will visitors undergo full body checks as they enter a ward, to make sure they’re not smuggling in contraband Maltesers?
If you’d like to write directly to WCRF to make your feelings known, click on the organisation’s logo and you’ll land on the ‘contact us’ page.
No More Hand Wringing
We need to generate our own news stories; we need to be lighting the fires, not putting them out. The AVA needs all our support if we are ever to get a joined-up approach to protecting the image of vending.
Here are a few ideas from us at PV: The WCRF survey asked all 146 acute hospital trusts in England about their policy on vending machines. Of the 110 that responded, 81 said they did not have a policy. Only 11 said they did have a vending policy – and 18 hospitals said a policy was under development. 58% per cent of hospitals said their vending machines were not stocked with 30% healthy products. But 67% responded that they offered at least one healthier choice option for each product type.
PV says let’s conduct a survey of our own amongst the operators serving each of those 146 ‘acute’ hospitals. Let’s find out their experiences, let’s have them tell us what’s on open sale elsewhere on the premises (i.e. tuck shops, cafes and so on); let’s ask them how sales of ‘healthy options’ stack up; let’s highlight the operator’s own ‘healthy options’ codes.
Let’s investigate the nature of contracts… How is the vending financed / funded? Who makes the money?
A survey such as this, ‘Vending In Hospitals 2013’ would be expensive to complete but the PR it could generate would be priceless.
Critics have to stop blaming the machines. It’s like shooting the messenger. As an industry, through the auspices of the AVA perhaps, let’s invite the WCRF to join the UK Vending Industry in a campaign to ban ‘junk food’ from all establishments operating in hospitals and those establishments situated within a walking distance radius of the hospitals. At least then we’d have a level playing field!
Better yet, why don’t we start a campaign to enforce the oft flaunted bans on smoking in hospital grounds? Now there’s an activity, apparently condoned, which really is responsible for, as Amanda put it, ‘many people ending up in hospital in the first place’. Ever visited a hospital and seen large groups of patients gathered close to the doors having a fag? All of them in pyjamas or dressing gowns, some of them attached to drips? Surely, that’s even more injurious to their health than an Aero and a can of Tango?
Let’s produce stickers for every hospital vending / coffee machine urging our customers to sign our on-line petition to cut the smoke out! Why not? It puts the health arguments applied to vending in an interesting context. ‘The Vending Industry Cares About The Nation’s Health! Support Our Campaign!
And let’s make friends. Dr Johnny Marshall, director of policy at the NHS Confederation, (which represents all organisations providing NHS services), seems a decent cove. He said ‘many trusts rent space to commercial outlets to provide a good (vending) service to patients and visitors. Nowadays, the majority of these offer fruit, smoothies, tea and coffee, as well as a range of sweets and treats.’
Sensibly, he added: ‘if a patient who has been in hospital a week wants a few mint imperials, or a parent wants to buy their child who has just had a broken arm reset some chocolate buttons, as a doctor I think that is absolutely fine.
‘The key thing is that the NHS ensures there are easy ways for patients, staff and other users to make healthy choices. There isn’t a hospital trust in the country that would prioritise the relatively small amount of income they get from these sources above the overall health of their local community.’
Hear hear.
We should make friends with Dr.Marshall and his organisation. Let’s work with them to promote the sales of healthy items through vending machines. Let’s offer to work with them to improve things; maybe even to establish a national strategy for vending in hospitals.’
Enough of the hand wringing already, it’s time for action. We need a good, old-fashioned publicity stunt (such as lobbying for smoking to be outlawed, with guards at every door ready to stop people from lighting up), to get us noticed. And if people were to say ‘that’s ludicrous’, we’d reply, ‘not as ludicrous as blaming all society’s ills on vending machines.’
Sorry, I’m ranting… But it’s undeniable. The vending industry has to get on the front foot and do something that will capture the public’s imagination. Otherwise, we’re a soft target.
What do you think? Please use the ‘comments’ box below.
IR-Y
