Patients ‘put on weight to get NHS surgery’
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008Daily Telegraph 21/04/08
Obese people may be deliberately trying to put on even more weight in order to qualify for weight-loss surgery on the NHS, it has been claimed.
Demand for surgery to reduce the size of the stomach has soared in some areas, meaning only those patients who are grossly overweight can be considered.
Guidelines say that anyone who has a Body Mass Index - calculated by dividing weight by height squared in kilos and metres - of more than 40 qualifies for weight-loss surgery on the NHS if they have failed to lose weight in other ways.

