Kevin1708
Century Club
22-stone man set for fresh NHS court battle for stomach op
Thursday, May 19, 2011, 09:20 by Dave Blackhurst
DESPERATELY-ill Tom Condliff faces a race against time to overturn a legal verdict which stops him having a £5,500 life-saving operation on the NHS.
As the former policeman's health continues to deteriorate, lawyers want to bring his case to the Court of Appeal before it shuts for two months at the end of July.
NHS North Staffordshire has refused to fund the stomach bypass operation which will bring Tom's severe diabetes and 12 other illnesses under control.
His doctors have warned that Tom will be dead within 12 months without the procedure.
But both a judicial review and a separate High Court hearing failed to change the decision.
Now his solicitors have sent his papers to the Court of Appeal seeking permission from another judge to challenge the ruling.
Lawyer Oliver Wright said: "We now have a real race against time for Tom.
"We should know within three weeks whether we have permission to appeal and after that an appeal trial needs to be set up.
"In view of Tom's worsening health we have asked the Court of Appeal to make this case its top priority before it rises for the summer at the end of July.
"We have asked that two days are set aside for the hearing, although it is not easy to get three appeal court judges together at such short notice."
Specialists at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire say that bariatric surgery is the only cure for 62-year-old Tom's diabetes.
But at 22-stones Tom, pictured left, is not heavy enough to meet his health trust's criteria to have the operation on the NHS.
He has a Body Mass Index of 43, but it must be at least 50 for his trust to fund a gastric bypass.
Lawyers have argued that denying Tom the operation on the NHS breached the Human Rights Act because he struggles to leave his Talke home, walk long distances or take part in church and charity work.
They say the case carries huge implications for the NHS because 150 other health trusts also exclude social factors when deciding if patients should have funding for treatment they do not automatically allow.
Tom, whose weight gain has been caused by the drugs prescribed for his illnesses, was too ill to comment last night.
But he fears he will soon need kidney dialysis which, along with the cost of consultants, will cost £51,000 a year.
NHS North Staffordshire has previously told The Sentinel that funding request decisions are difficult, but that it has a duty to do its best for all patients with its limited money.
See : 22-stone man set for fresh NHS court battle for stomach op
Thursday, May 19, 2011, 09:20 by Dave Blackhurst
DESPERATELY-ill Tom Condliff faces a race against time to overturn a legal verdict which stops him having a £5,500 life-saving operation on the NHS.
As the former policeman's health continues to deteriorate, lawyers want to bring his case to the Court of Appeal before it shuts for two months at the end of July.
NHS North Staffordshire has refused to fund the stomach bypass operation which will bring Tom's severe diabetes and 12 other illnesses under control.
His doctors have warned that Tom will be dead within 12 months without the procedure.
But both a judicial review and a separate High Court hearing failed to change the decision.
Now his solicitors have sent his papers to the Court of Appeal seeking permission from another judge to challenge the ruling.
Lawyer Oliver Wright said: "We now have a real race against time for Tom.
"We should know within three weeks whether we have permission to appeal and after that an appeal trial needs to be set up.
"In view of Tom's worsening health we have asked the Court of Appeal to make this case its top priority before it rises for the summer at the end of July.
"We have asked that two days are set aside for the hearing, although it is not easy to get three appeal court judges together at such short notice."
Specialists at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire say that bariatric surgery is the only cure for 62-year-old Tom's diabetes.
But at 22-stones Tom, pictured left, is not heavy enough to meet his health trust's criteria to have the operation on the NHS.
He has a Body Mass Index of 43, but it must be at least 50 for his trust to fund a gastric bypass.
Lawyers have argued that denying Tom the operation on the NHS breached the Human Rights Act because he struggles to leave his Talke home, walk long distances or take part in church and charity work.
They say the case carries huge implications for the NHS because 150 other health trusts also exclude social factors when deciding if patients should have funding for treatment they do not automatically allow.
Tom, whose weight gain has been caused by the drugs prescribed for his illnesses, was too ill to comment last night.
But he fears he will soon need kidney dialysis which, along with the cost of consultants, will cost £51,000 a year.
NHS North Staffordshire has previously told The Sentinel that funding request decisions are difficult, but that it has a duty to do its best for all patients with its limited money.
See : 22-stone man set for fresh NHS court battle for stomach op
