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Why does the NHS ignore the risks of obesity surgery?
New figures showing a nine fold increase in the number of people having weight loss surgery over the last five years have been labelled “an unnecessary expense for the NHS and a danger to lives of individuals”.
The criticism by Slimming World comes after figures from the NHS Information Centre revealed that the number of patients having gastric surgery increased from 480 procedures in 2003-04 to 4,246 procedures in 2008-09.
According to the British Medical Journal (BMJ), between one in 300 and three in 300 people die as a result of having weight loss surgery – a figure that Slimming World says is “horrifying and unacceptable”.
Jacquie Lavin, Slimming World head of nutrition and research says: “What if a slimming club with 300,000 members like us, was to declare that, while the potential long term health benefits of joining are enormous, around one in 300 of its members will die from doing so? Or that one in 20 is at risk of serious complications such as infection or gut perforations. It’s horrifying and there would quite rightly be enormous public outcry. People need to be made aware that surgery is not a quick fix and, in fact, that it can be potentially life threatening.”
Funded by the taxpayer, weight loss surgery costs the NHS £4,000-£8,000 per patient for a gastric band or £8,000-£15,000 per patient for a gastric bypass. Yet a 12-week course at Slimming World costs just £55.68, and research published in the journal of Public Health showed that, on average, patients lose 6.4% of their body weight when attending 10 out of 12 weeks, and over half go on to self fund afterwards. This initial outlay sets patients on the right path to achieving long term lifestyle change.
“Suggestions that increased access to obesity surgery is the best way to save money and NHS funding are very wide of the mark because, as well as being expensive, surgery does little to tackle the root cause of obesity,” continues Jacquie. “Surgery takes no real account of an overweight person’s state of mind, their motivation, their self-esteem or their confidence to make long-term changes. It also does little to equip them with the support, motivation, information and practical skills they and their family need to move forward after treatment, as they battle to change from their old eating habits, unhealthy lifestyles and inactive routines.
“For many overweight people, failure to keep to the many diets out there based around hunger and restriction has sent them into a cycle of failure and plunging self-esteem. Suggestions that surgery is the only solution to the problem can only serve to heighten these feelings of failure and lack of control, putting the solution well and truly in someone else’s hands and leaving the individual bereft of the very support they needed in the first place.
“At Slimming World, with 40 years experience of working with overweight and obese people, we have learnt that the key to long term weight management is a healthy, generous and realistic plan that allows those who struggle with their weight to eat to satisfy their appetite with healthier foods. Combined with effective ongoing group support it provides a real long term solution for individuals, healthy habits that they can then pass on to future generations. What overweight people really need is compassionate support, without humiliation or guilt, that equips them to make lifestyle changes that are sustainable in the long term and that they can return to as many times as they need to for success. This is a long term healthy lifestyle change. There is no risk, the cost to the NHS or the individual is minimal and, unlike surgery, it empowers the individual and gives them the strength to take control of their lives and to make changes that will last a lifetime.”
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