Morbidly obese will be refused routine surgery

[Xt500]

The NHS could be funded adequately though. There's plenty of cash out there that the government could get their hands on if they wanted to. They chose not to though. They'd rather blame fat smokers, immigrants and people on benefits for stretching the system.

 

The system is what's at fault. It's currently very, very easy for wealthy people to avoid paying tax in the UK. That needs to stop.

 

The NHS wasnt intended as a world wide free service that its turned into,that was never sustainable.

[Bonzo77]

The NHS wasnt intended as a world wide free service that its turned into,that was never sustainable.

 

World wide?

[Cyclone]

What about oil rig workers? Van drivers?

 

Any idea what routine operations morbidly obese people (obviously once you start you can slide that scale to obese then just overweight people) won't get done? Fix a broken leg? Ingrowing toenail? Are we happy to have fat people in pain just because they're fat?

 

Nhs, cradle to the grave as long as.......

 

Presumably it applies to planned surgeries, not emergency ones, and if the risk is during a GA, then it won't apply to operations that don't require a GA.

 

---------- Post added 04-12-2014 at 10:59 ----------

 

But then I am technically obese and a smoker, so I would say that.

 

Is calling it "technically obese" a way of saying that you disagree with it, you think that you're actually a healthy size?

[tzijlstra]

Presumably it applies to planned surgeries, not emergency ones, and if the risk is during a GA, then it won't apply to operations that don't require a GA.

 

---------- Post added 04-12-2014 at 10:59 ----------

 

 

Is calling it "technically obese" a way of saying that you disagree with it, you think that you're actually a healthy size?

 

Considering that I've been larger than my age group counterparts since I can remember, yes. In secondary school I met with a district nurse because I was overweight according to their statistics. She measured me and said: nothing to worry about, your body fat ratio is fine, your frame is just far more developed than that of your friends.

 

I am fatter now than I should be, but I live relatively healthily and haven't needed a doctor for years.

 

But feel free to judge me, I am used to it.

[Cyclone]

I just wondered why you qualified it with "technically".

 

If you're measured as obese then that's a bit of a step beyond "overweight".

 

I'm not interested in judging you, it's your body, do what you like with it.

[barleycorn]

Those who smoke and those who are morbidly obese have a massively increased risk of death during anaesthetic and post operatively.

Maybe this Trust just can't afford the certainty of a prolonged stay in intensive care and the legal bills when they die.

Cruel comments but true.

Smokers will have to stop smoking and those who are morbidly obese make some headway to losing a significant amount of weight before it is deemed safe for them to be anaesthetised.

Personally I think it's the way to go since the NHS is sinking under the strain of those with conditions that may be of their making - I admire Devon NHS Trust for their proactive stance.

 

---------- Post added 03-12-2014 at 18:33 ----------

 

 

http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=-1818623955

 

Many more issues with the morbidly obese than respiratory problems.

 

https://ispub.com/IJH/5/1/3416

 

FYI

 

Oh dear.

This will be my last post since I have repeated this over and over again.

This is not discrimination against morbidly obese people - this is fact.

People who are morbidly obese are far more likely to die when under a general anaesthetic. The facts are there for anyone who cares to take the time to read them.

http://www.bjmp.org/content/anaestheic-management-obese-parturient

Good night and good bye.

If this were the reason for the new policy then you might have a point*. It, however is not. They are not doing it due to any increased risks posed by the obese or smokers but simply to reduce waiting times.

 

* I don't think you have a point. If you're going to withhold care from the obese or smokers then you also have to withhold care from anyone else whose lifestyle choices put them at greater risk of injury/disease or greater cost of treatment. To do otherwise is discriminatory.

 

jb

[tzijlstra]

I just wondered why you qualified it with "technically".

 

If you're measured as obese then that's a bit of a step beyond "overweight".

 

I'm not interested in judging you, it's your body, do what you like with it.

 

I apologise for thinking you asked because you were judging me, text is flat on forums

 

There is a hell of a lot unknown about obesity and why it affects some people far more than others, that is where my "technically" comes from.

 

I can for example point to a heretic tendency to have a 'pot-belly', my father has always had one since he was 25 or so (without qualifying as obese, his weight is and always has been fine), his father always had one, his father did.

 

On the matriarchal line I have picked up the genes that make one of my uncles 6'4" and build like an outdoor toilet, whereas my brother has picked up the smaller build of the other two uncles. Age 25 I developed the customary pot-belly (in combination with sudden lack of exercise due to injury) and I've always been large (as I said).

 

It is unfortunate that I managed to get the mix of pot-belly and large size, but that is just the way it is. People trying to tell me that I eat/drink too much and are responsible for my own weight don't know my family or me very well, I don't eat excessively.

 

Yet I have friends who are skinny that can eat crappy food all day long and not gain a gramme of body fat.

 

Not complaining, just the way it is.

[Dozer]

FYI, the restrictions are on BMI over 35 (according to the Guardian), which is more than just obese. tzijlstra you don't look like you would be >35. The trust is talking about it explicitly as a way to address rising costs, and I'm not sure how comfortable I am with that, but at least they're starting with a pretty high threshold.

 

---------- Post added 04-12-2014 at 12:50 ----------

 

FYI, if anyone wants to calculate their BMI, you can do so at http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Healthyweightcalculator.aspx

[Jonny5]

I think the problem with this is where is the line drawn and who draws it.

 

There is no sense in the NHS using resource on someone on 60 Marlboro's day and/or with a BMI of 35 or above (that's an average height male coming in at 17st, which for someone at 5'9 is frankly humongous).

 

Instead the patient and the NHS need to be tackling those problem first.

 

Anybody that refuses to look after themselves at all shouldn't be taking up NHS/tax payer resources and especially if what they are using those resources for are symptoms of their poor lifestyle.