Obesity levels have risen to such an extent that the NHS is struggling to meet the associated costs, figures obtained by GP newspaper suggest. Over the past three years, one in 6 primary health care trusts has seen a seven-fold increase in spending on obesity. The costs have been blamed not only on a heightened demand for specialist bariatric surgeries to combat obesity but on the costs of specialist equipment needed to provide care for the obese. Specialist equipment purchased included larger examination couches and larger hospital gowns.
The report comes on top of other figures released earlier in the year revealing the pressure being placed on public care services. The fire services are being called out fairly regularly to help move obese patients, in one case from one hospital bed to another. Prescriptions for slimming tablets are also steadily rising; last figures released, from 2007, showed they were costing the NHS £1m a week.
There was a 40% increase in the numbers of bariatric surgeries done in 2007-2008, compared with the year before, though 25% of PCTS have also refused funding for bariatric surgeries. Some experts have said that severely obese patients are being denied the surgeries though they are generally proved to be effective in extreme cases. David Haslam, a GP and the clinical director of the National Obesity Forum, believes that though patients were meeting criteria for surgeries recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellent (NICE),“PCTs are in the habit of adding extra barriers over and above NICE.”He said, “PCTs are delighted to find any excuse to turn down surgery, despite the fact that it is among the most clinically effective, and cost effective procedures in any field of medicine.”