Health chiefs admit Wolverhampton hospital's Greggs 'not ideal' as city tackles obesity crisis
Health chiefs at a West Midlands hospital have admitted it is 'not ideal' having a Greggs bakery on the site.
Earlier this year the Express & Star revealed that the branch at Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital, was believed to be the country's second busiest.
Hospital chief executive David Loughton had said that queues were often '20 deep' such was the demand at the bakery.
Officials say they are now looking into what else could be offered at the hospital after it emerged that 69.8 per cent of adults in Wolverhampton are overweight or obese.
In a meeting of the Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust chairman Jeremy Vanes said: "In terms of our inpatients our food is very good and healthy and we have done well on that.
"It is not ideal having Greggs in the hospital and it doesn't meet the demands of good practice for healthy eating in Wolverhampton when the city is facing an 'obesogenic'.
"It is there as an option for staff and visitors but we are having thoughts on what else the hospital can offer."
Mr Loughton had said that a deal with the bakery had been signed off by a previous trust board.
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He added: "It is about people's choice. We weren't the ones who signed a 15 year contract with Greggs. There is a healthier option in the heart and lung facility but whenever you see Greggs the queues are about 20 people deep."
Mr Loughton said because of the layout of New Cross Hospital site it was unable to have a main focal point for dining like Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
He explained: "It is a different hospital, and a different building. We got rid of the staff room because people who were having to walk from one side of the hospital to the other with half-an-hour break it wasn't worth their while.
"If I was to ask you what the main entrance was to New Cross Hospital what would your answer be? I don't think there is one.
"There's no central main entrance like Queen Elizabeth it is spread around."
Wolverhampton City Council's director of public health Ros Jervis has been a critic of Greggs at the hospital.
She said earlier this year: "All sectors must do their bit, including the NHS.
"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."
