Health, obesity & austerity measures: the reaction of British surgeons
The British coalition government, in this period of economic slowdown, undertook a major reform of its public health system, the National Health System (NHS), which had already undergone a major overhaul during the Blair years.
Austerity measures will indeed be taken in the months to come , in order to reduce spending in some of the most expensive branches. Among the latter, we find, without much surprise, that of the treatment of acute obesity . According to calculations by the Ministry of Health, more than 56 million pounds (about 67 million euros) could be saved for this specialty alone.
It all started in November, when Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he wanted to survey 19 hospitals to see how well they were working. Since then, it has turned out that obese people in certain regions have been denied obesity treatment as a prerequisite for bariatric surgery. These are interventions on the volume of the stomach, which consist of cutting part of this organ. The College of Surgeons notably regretted the unjust nature of this “postcode discrimination” (postcode lottery), the nature of which is purely geographical.
An inequality between the different regions…
Some services stopped being funded in September, notably in Northern Combrie, while other regions, such as Tyneside, will be subsidized until April. According to Richard Welbourn, president of the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society, this approach reflects a lack of pragmatism and a vision of the economy reduced to the short term. The bariatric surgery that he wishes to promote, although expensive, allows savings in the long term. Still according to him, only 1% of obese people requiring such treatment actually benefit from it.
Part of the problem also lies in a certain administrative confusion, insofar as it is unclear which of the clinical commissions (in charge of pre-operation treatments) or of the local authorities must finance the management of the obese. Welbourn, however, explains the 10% drop in bariatric surgeries between April 2012 and March 2013 mainly by the “postcode lottery” mentioned above. The drop comes at a time when the rate of obesity in young English people has been rising for at least 6 years, despite the latest study from PHE Obesity K&L ( UK obesity research body ) publishing on 11 December 2013 encouraging results on obesity in English schools(obesity would have decreased for the first time since this study is in place).
According to Channel 4 television , less than 25% of clinic boards still fund treatment for obese people in Britain. In response, the NHS Department of England said funding issues needed to be clarified, particularly at local level, while being aware of the variations that affected this service. A working group was also created during the second half of 2013, in order to provide clear answers to the dissatisfied, starting with citizens and specialized surgeons, deprived of a non-negligible clientele.
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.