NHS obesity surgery up 785%

Figures published on Friday showed that weight loss surgery has risen almost 785 per cent in less than five years, according to NHS Information Centre research.

In 2003-4 there were just 480 operations, but latest data from 2008-9 revealed a whopping 4,246 obese patients underwent surgery.

There has been an upward trend of obesity operations since 2003-4 that hints at an even bigger number undergoing surgery in 2010, the figures revealed.

The latest statistics followed s an online study by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) which reported a tenfold rise in weight loss surgery between 2000 and 2007.

The operations range from complete removal of part or all of the stomach to gastric bands and stomach stapling.

National Obesity Forum spokeswoman Tam Fry argued that doctors are going ahead with the surgery without insisting patients seek lifestyle changes and pharmaceutical treatment first.

"We have alternative ways of losing weight but when people realise this is a possibility, they could go for it," she said.

But Peter Sedman, bariatric surgeon and spokesman for the Royal College of Surgeons, said that obesity surgery was "successful" and "cost-effective" and needed more resources.

"The number of morbidly obese patients in Britain is increasing rapidly and we need to continue to put even more resources into what is proven to be a successful and cost-effective method of treatment," he said.

"The burden on the NHS in years to come in obesity-related illness will otherwise be overwhelming."

BMJ report author Dr Paul Aylin, from Imperial College, hinted that the operations would reduce NHS costs in the long term because he said evidence shows they can reduce other illnesses common in obese people.

The operations were also proved to cut the risk of a patient dying or being admitted to hospital, he said.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence recommends surgery as a last resort and only for the morbidly obese.

A Department of Health spokesman said prescribing drugs or recommending surgery was a "clinical decision.

"It is up to individual trusts to commission a range of services to meet their local community's needs," a spokesman said.