Health chiefs ration expensive weight-loss surgery (From thisisoxfordshire)

Health chiefs ration expensive weight-loss surgery

6:50am Tuesday 26th January 2010

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WEIGHT-LOSS surgery which it is claimed could benefit 10,000 people in Oxfordshire is being rationed by county health chiefs to save money.

The Royal College of Surgeons said the NHS should recognise surgery, such as gastric bands, as the best treatment for serious obesity – a call backed by an Oxford surgeon.

Last year NHS Oxfordshire – the county’s primary care trust – received 64 requests for surgery, which can cost up to £14,000, but only approved 25 cases.

The trust said it could not afford to carry out more operations.

Nick Maynard, a surgeon who works privately at Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital, called for a rethink.

He said: “There is proof that this treatment works.

“Up to 10,000 Oxfordshire people could benefit.

“Between 60 to 70 per cent of type two diabetes can be cured through surgery, the risk of heart disease can also be very significantly reduced, and other conditions such as the breathing problems associated with being overweight can be improved.”

Clare Burnett, 51, from Wallingford, was fitted with a gastric band to help her lose weight.

She said: “I did have some reservations before, but now I am in awe of gastric surgery.It has changed my life.”

The National Institute of health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), which provides guidelines on NHS care, thinks patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or above should be referred for surgery.

A healthy BMI falls between 19 and 25 per cent body fat.

A BMI of 25-30 is classed as overweight, and over 30 is considered obese.

It is estimated that about half of Oxfordshire’s 635,500 population is overweight or obese – with five per cent morbidly obese, meaning they have a BMI above 40.

Nice said people with a BMI of between 35 and 40 who have other conditions should also be referred.

But NHS Oxfordshire, which needs to make £80m savings, will only pay for the surgery for those with a BMI over 50 who also have a serious weight-related illness.

The trust has been asked to consider surgery for anyone with a BMI of more than 50 – and those with a BMI of more than 40 who have diabetes.

But the trust said it would cost an extra £750,000 in the next financial year.

It said it was already spending £600,000 a year treating obesity.

A spokesman said a review at the end of the year would reconsider resources.

Cancer treatment campaigner Clive Stone, from Freeland, said the NHS was right to make priorities. He said: “Someone who is dying because they can’t get drugs is a higher priority than someone who wants this surgery.”

CLARE Burnett has battled with her weight most of her adult life.

At 5ft 5ins tall and 16st, Ms Burnett, 51, from Wallingford said she had always been conscious of her weight.

She said her father, who had diabetes, had suffered a major stroke and her mother died of a heart attack in 2006.

She added: “I felt my weight was increasing the chance of experiencing the same conditions.”

With a BMI of 37 she was not eligible to have surgery on the NHS so had a gastric band fitted privately last August. Since then she has lost two-and-a-half stone, moving from a dress size 22 to a loose-fitting 18.

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