NHS obesity care 'inadequate'

A new report by the Royal College of Physicians has said NHS services to manage Britain's bulging obesity problem are 'inadequate' and 'poorly developed'.

UK Faculty of Public Health: Focus on obesity is 'wrong'

The president of the UK's Faculty of Public Health has responded to a new report by the Royal College of Physicians, which suggests that NHS services to manage Britain's obesity problem are 'inadequate' and 'poorly developed'.

Professor Lindsey Davies said:

The only way we will ever tackle the problems caused by obesity is by everyone working together.

Obesity is not only caused by how much we each eat or drink: if tackling it were as simple as telling people to eat less and move more, we would have solved it by now.

That's why if governments focus on personal choice alone it is, at best, a red herring and, at worst, a dereliction of duty for everyone's health.

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Government 'taking action' to tackle obesity in the NHS

The government is committed to tackling obesity, a spokeswoman said today, following a new report suggesting there is "inadequate" provision in treating obese patients in the NHS.

There is "inadequate" provision to treat obese patients in the NHS, a new report suggests. Credit: Katie Collins/PA Archive

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "The medical profession has a key role in providing advice and treatment to people who are overweight or obese and the Royal College of Physicians can help its members do this.

"The NHS has a range of programmes in place to encourage weight loss. Surgery should only be considered as a last resort and decisions must be clinically-led."

Expert: NHS must prepare for an 'influx of obesity'

Britain is getting "bigger", the academic vice president of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) said today, following a report suggesting that there is "inadequate" provision to treat obese patients in the NHS.

Professor John Wass said:

Britain is getting bigger and whilst we try to prevent the increase in obesity, we must also prepare the NHS for the influx of patients presenting with severe complex obesity.

A patient may arrive at my hospital with coronary heart disease, but if the root cause of their condition is obesity, we must be equipped to deal with that root cause.

Majority of UK population 'will be obese by 2050'

Around a quarter of UK adults are currently obese, and this figure is set to continue to grow. By 2050 experts predict that the majority of Britain's population will be obese.

The cost of dealing with the problem is estimated to be £5 billion each year: a figure set to grow further.

Many obese people suffer from a number of health issues, in particular:

  • heart disease
  • diabetes
  • arthritis
  • sleep disorders
  • gynaecological disorders

However, the Royal College of Physicians said there were not enough "joined-up" services in the NHS to deal with the multiple health disorders obesity can bring.

NHS obesity services 'inadequate' and 'patchy'

The Royal College of Physicians said the NHS must adapt to meet the needs of bulging Britain.
The Royal College of Physicians said the NHS must adapt to meet the needs of bulging Britain. Credit: Press Association

Obesity care provided by the NHS is "inadequate" and "poorly developed" according to new report by the Royal College of Physicians.

Even though the rate of obesity in the UK is among the highest in the world, the health service's response to the bulging problem is "patchy" according to experts.

They also said that too many doctors and nurses and seriously overweight, and setting a bad example to patients.

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