Fat Britons threaten NHS with £20bn bill for surgery
BRITAIN is sitting on an obesity timebomb that could cripple the National Health Service, researchers warned yesterday.
By: Mark Reynolds Sat, January 18, 2014
Gastric bypass procedures are very costlyGastric bypass procedures are very costly
A study found that more than two million adults are eligible for expensive weight loss surgery.
Treating them all would cost the taxpayer £20billion.
Medical experts warned that wide-ranging action was needed to avoid the burgeoning obesity crisis from destroying the NHS.
Weight loss operations, such as the fitting of a gastric band or gastric bypass surgery, are available on the NHS to treat those with potentially life-threatening obesity.
About 8,000 people currently receive the treatment each year, at a cost of up to £11,000 each.
But researchers from Imperial College London have discovered that, with the nation getting fatter, more than five per cent of adults actually qualify for surgery – more than 2.1 million people in England alone. In the study of nearly 9,500 people, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, researchers found that surgery .take-up rates were low.
Lead researcher Dr Sonia Saxena said: “Less than one per cent of those eligible have weight loss .surgery each year.”
Two million adults being eligible for weight loss surgery
Miliband must tell us whose side he is on
Some 26 per cent of all adults in England are obese and a further 41 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women are overweight
The report added: “Due to the limited capacity of health services to meet demand under existing .criteria, greater investment into service provision may be required to meet a growing need.”
Several factors contributed to surgery rates currently being so low, the study found, including those with greatest need for surgery being more often in the lowest socio-.economic groups and the least likely to use healthcare services.
Some 26 per cent of all adults in England are obese and a further 41 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women are overweight.
A recent study by the National Obesity Forum warned that earlier projections that half the UK .pop.ulation would be obese by 2050 .actually underestimate the problem.The lobbying group called for hard-hitting awareness campaigns, .similar to the approach taken to cut smoking, to stem the problem.
Some surgical procedures are .considered quick fixes, with up to a third of gastric band patients putting the weight back on. Robert Oxley of campaign group the TaxPayers’ .Alliance said: “Britain cannot overcome its obesity crisis through costly surgery or government
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Originally Posted by stevewool
