Obese patients denied hip surgery and told to exercise instead
oBeSe patients will be denied hip and knee replacements and sent to swimming sessions and exercise classes in a bid to get them to lose weight.
a cost-cutting scheme being imposed by two health trusts in Cheshire will refuse the operations to anyone with a body mass index above 35.
Instead they will be advised to sign up for free exercise classes at the nearby leisure centre, go swimming, sign up for physiotherapy or join a weight loss club such as Slimming World.
The plans are being rolled out in the South Cheshire and vale royal Clinical Commissioning Groups in the North West, which cover 275,000 patients in total.
South Cheshire has overspent its budget by £5million, while the vale royal has a deficit of £3.5million.
The latest proposals have been condemned by the royal College of Surgeons who said it would lead to thousands being denied ‘lifechanging surgery’.
Last month, managers in three West Midlands CCGs announced that patients would be refused hip and pain sleepingThe knee prevented suggestionat operationsnight. themthat unless these from their patientsclasses is should bizarre attendas by the exercise very nature of their condition they are immobile and in pain. But a spokesman for the CCGs said they were spending £1.1million more a year on hip and knee surgery, and costs needed to come down. hip and knee replacements are amongst the most commonly performed operations on the NhS, with around 100,000 carried out each year.
They are mostly done on patients with osteoarthritis, which causes the joints to become extremely swollen, limiting their movement.
a letter sent to GPs from managers at the CCG – obtained by health Service Journal – states that patients must have a BMI of under 35, which is classed as severely obese.
This is equivalent to a 5ft 6in woman weighing 15 stone 10lb or a 6ft man at 18 stone 6lb.
Clare Marx, President of the royal College of Surgeons, said: ‘Yet again at a time of mounting pressure on the NhS, CCGs are using arbitrary pain thresholds and a patient’s weight as a way of delaying access to potentially life changing surgery.
‘CCGs increasingly seem to be taking this route in an attempt to reduce costs, but this policy only delays surgery and overlooks the potential costs from pain relief medication.’
a spokesman for the CCGs said BMI would not be an ‘absolute’ barrier to surgery and patients may be still put forward if there were ‘exceptional reasons’.
he added: ‘We want to encourage and support people to optimise their health and wellbeing through weight loss, exercise and pain relief and get the best from joint surgery should this be the best option for them.’