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NHS (Wales) to double spend on obesity surgery
BBC News (wales 26/04/2011)
FUNDING boost will see more people undergoing NHS weight-loss surgery to help tackle the nation’s obesity epidemic.
The budget for bariatric surgery operations, such as gastric banding or stomach stapling, is forecast to almost double to £500,000 this year. The extra cash could also help establish the nation’s first specialist morbid obesity service, operating out of hospitals in Bridgend and Swansea.
By comparison, £520,000 has been spent on weight loss surgery for Welsh patients over the past two years and most of the operations have been carried out in either Bristol or Salford.
A Freedom of Information request by the Western Mail showed fewer than 10% of those referred for weight loss surgery in Wales received NHS funding over the past two years.
Professor John Baxter, the nation’s leading bariatric surgeon, said: “I’ve had patients on my waiting list die when [the list] was long and you never got round to doing them. We’ve all had patients we know that are on a knife edge.”
Statistics released by the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC) show 1,044 overweight patients were referred by their GP or clinician for surgery.
Of the referrals, the WHSSC approved 126 patients for assessment for publicly-funded surgery, including 94 in 2008/09 and just 32 in 2009/10.
But the body, which decides how funding for surgery is spent, said the figure is likely to be even lower as not all patients would have been considered “physically or psychologically suitable for surgery”.
Dr Cerilan Rogers, WHSSC’s director of specialised and tertiary services, said weight loss surgery had been assigned a “low priority” relative to ministerial priorities that required significant investment, such as renal dialysis or specialist cancer services.
She said funding available for morbid obesity had therefore been restricted to the most severe cases, where patients suffered from uncontrolled blood pressure, diabetes or sleeping disorders.
The rationing of weight loss surgery means that in Wales only patients with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of more than 50 were considered for operations, compared with a BMI of 40 in many parts of England.
Dr Nadim Haboubi, chairman of the National Obesity Forum Wales, said: “Why should the criteria for obese people to have surgery be different between Wales and England? What makes the obese Welshman different from the obese Englishman?
“Why should only people with BMI of 50 and above qualify for surgery, while in England it’s 40 and above? These people are desperate to have surgery and I see them every week.
“Bariatric surgery doesn’t exist properly in Wales. We have the highest morbidly obese people in the western world and their best chance to be healthy again is surgery. It’s all about finance and money, obesity is not considered a disease by the NHS.”
The WHSSC confirmed it was evaluating proposals for a South Wales morbid obesity service with Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board.
It is hoped the new service will see up to 80 patients have surgery at the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend, in the next 12 months.
Prof Baxter said a second bariatric surgeon had been employed and there were plans for a new bariatric nurse, dietician and psychologist.
“We are trying to set up a solid South Wales service, albeit it heavily rationed. There have been a lot of negotiations and costing to repatriate it back from Bristol to Swansea/ Bridgend,” he said. “This has been an unmet need for a long time that has been poorly resourced, but now it’s finally being put right and we just need to get going.”
South West Wales AM Peter Black, the Liberal-Democrat spokesman for health, said any NHS money spent on weight loss surgery must be justified.
“Clearly there is a need, where there are good medical reasons, to carry out weight loss surgery, even if only to prolong life and encourage good health,” he said. “We also need to make sure that the people having the treatment are going to change their lifestyles. It’s much the same as smoking, if you provide help for them to give up smoking then you don’t expect them to go back and smoke again.
“It needs to be a part of holistic treatment, it isn’t just a question of carrying out surgery. There has to be support and counselling before and after surgery, because otherwise the money is being wasted.”
A WHSSC spokesman said any morbid obesity service must demonstrate cost efficiency, cost effectiveness and represent overall value for money
BBC News (wales 26/04/2011)
FUNDING boost will see more people undergoing NHS weight-loss surgery to help tackle the nation’s obesity epidemic.
The budget for bariatric surgery operations, such as gastric banding or stomach stapling, is forecast to almost double to £500,000 this year. The extra cash could also help establish the nation’s first specialist morbid obesity service, operating out of hospitals in Bridgend and Swansea.
By comparison, £520,000 has been spent on weight loss surgery for Welsh patients over the past two years and most of the operations have been carried out in either Bristol or Salford.
A Freedom of Information request by the Western Mail showed fewer than 10% of those referred for weight loss surgery in Wales received NHS funding over the past two years.
Professor John Baxter, the nation’s leading bariatric surgeon, said: “I’ve had patients on my waiting list die when [the list] was long and you never got round to doing them. We’ve all had patients we know that are on a knife edge.”
Statistics released by the Welsh Health Specialised Services Committee (WHSSC) show 1,044 overweight patients were referred by their GP or clinician for surgery.
Of the referrals, the WHSSC approved 126 patients for assessment for publicly-funded surgery, including 94 in 2008/09 and just 32 in 2009/10.
But the body, which decides how funding for surgery is spent, said the figure is likely to be even lower as not all patients would have been considered “physically or psychologically suitable for surgery”.
Dr Cerilan Rogers, WHSSC’s director of specialised and tertiary services, said weight loss surgery had been assigned a “low priority” relative to ministerial priorities that required significant investment, such as renal dialysis or specialist cancer services.
She said funding available for morbid obesity had therefore been restricted to the most severe cases, where patients suffered from uncontrolled blood pressure, diabetes or sleeping disorders.
The rationing of weight loss surgery means that in Wales only patients with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of more than 50 were considered for operations, compared with a BMI of 40 in many parts of England.
Dr Nadim Haboubi, chairman of the National Obesity Forum Wales, said: “Why should the criteria for obese people to have surgery be different between Wales and England? What makes the obese Welshman different from the obese Englishman?
“Why should only people with BMI of 50 and above qualify for surgery, while in England it’s 40 and above? These people are desperate to have surgery and I see them every week.
“Bariatric surgery doesn’t exist properly in Wales. We have the highest morbidly obese people in the western world and their best chance to be healthy again is surgery. It’s all about finance and money, obesity is not considered a disease by the NHS.”
The WHSSC confirmed it was evaluating proposals for a South Wales morbid obesity service with Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board.
It is hoped the new service will see up to 80 patients have surgery at the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend, in the next 12 months.
Prof Baxter said a second bariatric surgeon had been employed and there were plans for a new bariatric nurse, dietician and psychologist.
“We are trying to set up a solid South Wales service, albeit it heavily rationed. There have been a lot of negotiations and costing to repatriate it back from Bristol to Swansea/ Bridgend,” he said. “This has been an unmet need for a long time that has been poorly resourced, but now it’s finally being put right and we just need to get going.”
South West Wales AM Peter Black, the Liberal-Democrat spokesman for health, said any NHS money spent on weight loss surgery must be justified.
“Clearly there is a need, where there are good medical reasons, to carry out weight loss surgery, even if only to prolong life and encourage good health,” he said. “We also need to make sure that the people having the treatment are going to change their lifestyles. It’s much the same as smoking, if you provide help for them to give up smoking then you don’t expect them to go back and smoke again.
“It needs to be a part of holistic treatment, it isn’t just a question of carrying out surgery. There has to be support and counselling before and after surgery, because otherwise the money is being wasted.”
A WHSSC spokesman said any morbid obesity service must demonstrate cost efficiency, cost effectiveness and represent overall value for money
