Patient fury at invite to weight loss group
PATIENTS were left fuming after a GP surgery sent them a text message asking if they would like to be referred to a ‘weight management group’.
Elizabeth Clark, who is a patient at Ramsbottom Group Practice, said it felt like they were saying ‘come down to the surgery fatty’.
The text read: “Would you like a referral to weight management group? Please complete the form below. You can now walk in for height and weight.”
Elizabeth, who received the text shortly after 9am on January 26, shared a screenshot of the message on Facebook in an effort to reassure other people that they weren’t alone in receiving the message.
She said that to begin with, people at her work were keeping the message
to themselves. Speaking to the Free Press she said: “How dare they. They thought they were deliberately targeted by the GP. It has upset lots of people.”
The text message dropped in her office at the same time for everyone. However, she said it was only when the thin people complained that they were being unfairly targeted that everyone admitted to having received it.
“What a horrible thing
to do without any kind of warning,” Elizabeth said. “It needs to be shared. “People need to know they’ve not been targeted.”
Dr Yu Yagihashi from the Ramsbottom Group Practice said: “I’m sorry for the confusion and for those who felt insulted by the content of the text message.”
He explained why the text was sent out to its patients.
He said: “Text messages
were sent out in order to keep our medical records up to date. We are also campaigning a health promotion by promoting referrals to weight management clinics for those who wish to be referred with certain criteria.
“It is sent to everyone over the age of 18 with a mobile number and is not personalised to individuals. Due to the character limit on SMS, we couldn’t explain in detail and include the sender.”
The surgery also put out a status on its Facebook page explaining that the message was not ‘not personal’.
It said: “We sent out a text message this morning to All patients over 18 to update our record on BMI. It was not personal to you if you received them. We are also promoting referral to a weight management programme if you wish to be referred. We may send out further text messages in February.”
Other people who received the text from the surgery replied to Elizabeth’s post in the Facebook group What’s on in Ramsbottom.
One man said: “I thought it was a wind up off my mate.”
Another said: “I rang them from the queue at Mac Donald’s (sic). Never been so insulted.”
“I got this text too, but I am fat to be fair,” one woman said, with a laughing emoji.