Weight loss surgery is hard to get funded in the United Kingdom, surgeons say, even if you qualify by being obese.
New reports reveal that it may be harder to get weight loss surgery if you live in the UK.
Funding shortages are reportedly causing many obese people to be denied bariatric surgery, even though they qualify for it. The Royal College of Surgeons surveyed a group of bariatric doctors, and found that two-thirds of the doctors reported patients being denied weight loss surgery by their local health authority as a cost-cutting measure.
The surgeons, who have no control over which hospitals approve which patients, say that some eligible people are forced to wait until they have gained even more weight before they qualify. By doing this, of course, the patients are risking developing diabetes or having a stroke while they wait for approval.
According to one report, the cost of obesity-related healthcare runs the National Health Service nearly $10 billion a year. And, many members of the Royal College of Surgeons insist that by allowing clinically obese patients to undergo weight loss surgery, the government will actually save money in the long run.
They note that surgery costs can be recouped within three years, and can eliminate diseases that are even more expensive in the long run. The delay in granting patients surgery is only draining national resources.
February 6th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
Not a surprise. This is the problem with national health care, rationing is a consequence. On the one hand we can bitch about Insurance companies regulating costs/profits or have the government do it.
I think the best avenue is educating the health, public communities what this surgery can do to lessen future costs as indicated in the article.