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   UK's obesity problem placing 'overwhelming burden' on NHS
Health experts today warned of obesity's "overwhelming" burden on the NHS as figures showed a 785% rise in weight-loss surgery. Some doctors are "skirting around the rules" and not insisting on months of lifestyle change and pharmaceutical treatment before allowing patients to undergo surgery, specialists said. Operations carried out for the most obese people in England soared over the past five years, according to the NHS Information Centre. Data for 2003/04 showed there were 480 procedures, rising to 4,246 in 2008/09. Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said: "These figures just show how bad things have got with the obesity epidemic. "We have alternative ways of losing weight but when people realise this is a possibility, they could go for it. "A lot of doctors are also starting to skirt around the rules and not insist on months of lifestyle change and pharmaceutical treatment - instead they are going straight for surgery." Peter Sedman, bariatric surgeon and spokesman for the Royal College of Surgeons, said: "The number of morbidly obese patients in the UK is increasing rapidly and we need to continue to put even more resources into what is proven to be a successful and cost-effective method of treatment. "The burden on the NHS in years to come in obesity-related illness will otherwise be overwhelming." The upward trend of operations suggests figures for 2010 could be even higher. From 2003/04 to 2004/05, the number of procedures jumped from 480 to 747. It then rose again the following year to 1,023, then 1,928 in 2006/07, 2,703 in 2007/08 and 4,246 in 2008/09. Of operations carried out in 2008/09, 42 involved removing part or all of the stomach. Another 1,378 included fitting a gastric band to make the stomach smaller, 504 were for stomach stapling and 2,210 involved a gastric bypass. Some 124 operations involved inserting a "bubble" in the stomach to fill it up. People may have undergone more than one procedure in the same operation. The NHS Information Centre says its data is the most reliable available for the total number of operations carried out on the NHS. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) recommends the surgery only for the morbidly obese (body mass index of 40 or more, or 35 if there is another existing condition which could improve with surgery, such as diabetes). But people must have failed on other methods, such as traditional diets, first. The figures come as a study published online in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found there has been an "exponential" 10-fold rise in weight-loss surgery between 2000 and 2007. Experts from Imperial College London said one reason for the rapid rise was obese patients demanding surgery. Bariatric surgery includes gastric banding, which reduces the size of the stomach with a band, and gastric bypass, where the the small intestine is re-routed towards a small stomach pouch. A sleeve gastrectomy is when part of the stomach is removed. Arguments in favour of the surgery include it reducing costs for the NHS in the long-term, because obese people often have a range of related illnesses which require treatment. It also cuts the risk of the patient dying, and being admitted to hospital, the latest study found. The researchers used the Hospital Episode Statistics database for England on all patients having surgery between April 2000 and March 2008. They found 6,953 bariatric procedures had been carried out, with annual figures showing a 10-fold rise from 238 operations in 2000 to 2,543 in 2007. A total of 8% of operations (556) resulted in the patient being readmitted to hospital as an unplanned emergency. People were aged about 40 when they had their surgery. Health minister Paul Burstow said: "Our ambition is to encourage healthier lifestyles and reduce the need for this type of treatment. "As part of the Change4Life movement, we are encouraging people to make simple changes, such as eating more fruit and veg, cutting down on fatty foods and being more active. "Our public health white paper later this year will set our plans to help people lead healthier lifestyles in more detail." A Department of Health spokesman said prescribing drugs or recommending surgery was a "clinical decision". "Independent guidance on obesity from Nice recommends that drugs and surgery should always be a last resort - a better diet and more exercise should be tried first," the spokesman added. "It is up to individual trusts to commission a range of services to meet their local community's needs." Source: 24dash.com Due to problems with spam only SalfordOnline members can now leave comments. Becoming a member of SalfordOnline only takes a minute, just hit the red Join Us button at the top right hand side of the page to create your Personal account. Got a news story? Need help with publicity for an event in Salford? Send it to newsdesk@salfordonline.com or call the SalfordOnline newsdesk on 0161 789 5377. |
