Obese patients face NHS surgery ban
Discussion
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yo...
With the pressures on the NHS this is an entirely sensible move. Hopefully this will be rolled out across the country and enforced.
With the pressures on the NHS this is an entirely sensible move. Hopefully this will be rolled out across the country and enforced.
Great news. Obesity causes so many complications with surgery that people don't appreciate, and many hip and knee replacements are needed simply because theyve been expected to carry too much weight for so long. Something like this needs to happen to encourage a cultural shift. A lot of fat people just don't give a damn and the health service suffers for it.
zeDuffMan said:
Great news. Obesity causes so many complications with surgery that people don't appreciate, and many hip and knee replacements are needed simply because theyve been expected to carry too much weight for so long. Something like this needs to happen to encourage a cultural shift. A lot of fat people just don't give a damn and the health service suffers for it.
Simple answer is for the NHS and doctors to say no. Schools to educate better, parents to get a reality check conversation. There seems to have been some back pedalling on this according to the Sunday papers. Fat people get arthritis and most of them have a very good outcome from joint replacement surgery. The risk of complications is higher but what is the alternative? Treat the malaise in society that results in obesity but don't deny people life changing treatment.
People are terrible at losing weight. They're terrible at it despite, in most cases, a full knowledge that it's causing them harm.
If we refuse to replace hips and knees when needed, we are a) perpetuating the obesity of those patients, who cannot really exercise, and will be on strong painkillers which tend to promote weight gain, b) making more people more severely impaired who will need more help, more care, and more support via benefits to survive, look after their kids etc and generally c) really honestly not saving any money at all in the long run because of the above - if anything, it's worse. That's why we DO replace obese people's joints if they need replacing, because it's a cost-effective treatment - not to mention, fundamentally, the humane thing to do.
If we refuse to replace hips and knees when needed, we are a) perpetuating the obesity of those patients, who cannot really exercise, and will be on strong painkillers which tend to promote weight gain, b) making more people more severely impaired who will need more help, more care, and more support via benefits to survive, look after their kids etc and generally c) really honestly not saving any money at all in the long run because of the above - if anything, it's worse. That's why we DO replace obese people's joints if they need replacing, because it's a cost-effective treatment - not to mention, fundamentally, the humane thing to do.
Edited by FlyingMeeces on Monday 5th September 22:43
BMI is a spectacularly poor way of measuring obesity.
Even when I was running competitively (county level sprint hurdler), my BMI was verging on 'obese'. Now it's over 30.
(I do battle with it - I run 4 times a week (5km - 10km each time out) - and don't eat junk. I wonder how much the tablets for my heart condition have an impact on things, though).
I'd not be happy at all if I was turned away for being 'obsese' when I'm significantly fitter and healthier than the average person!
Even when I was running competitively (county level sprint hurdler), my BMI was verging on 'obese'. Now it's over 30.
(I do battle with it - I run 4 times a week (5km - 10km each time out) - and don't eat junk. I wonder how much the tablets for my heart condition have an impact on things, though).
I'd not be happy at all if I was turned away for being 'obsese' when I'm significantly fitter and healthier than the average person!
The policy itself is not new, but recently highlighted because of the financial issues VoY are suffering (though I notice that they have been removed from the CCG's Referral Support Service portal)
Most areas have a policy place which restricts joint replacements to patients over a BMI of 35 (although, it must be made clear that these are not blanket policies and there is always an option for individual funding requests for patients who may have a BMI over 35 but are fit, healthy, strong and whose outcomes would not be adversely impacted by their weight).
The VoY policy is to support patients to quit smoking or lose weight before their procedures, outcomes are far better (particularly for orthopaedic procedures) where patients don't smoke and have a manageable weight.
Knee-jerk sensationalist journalism at its best.
Have a look at the policies in place (for a range of different conditions): http://www.valeofyorkccg.nhs.uk/rss/index.php?id=p...
Vale of York are not alone in these, there are similar policies in place across the country with increased tightening of thresholds and restrictions as the NHS struggles more and more financially through increased demand and flat funding.
Most areas have a policy place which restricts joint replacements to patients over a BMI of 35 (although, it must be made clear that these are not blanket policies and there is always an option for individual funding requests for patients who may have a BMI over 35 but are fit, healthy, strong and whose outcomes would not be adversely impacted by their weight).
The VoY policy is to support patients to quit smoking or lose weight before their procedures, outcomes are far better (particularly for orthopaedic procedures) where patients don't smoke and have a manageable weight.
Knee-jerk sensationalist journalism at its best.
Have a look at the policies in place (for a range of different conditions): http://www.valeofyorkccg.nhs.uk/rss/index.php?id=p...
Vale of York are not alone in these, there are similar policies in place across the country with increased tightening of thresholds and restrictions as the NHS struggles more and more financially through increased demand and flat funding.
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