Bariatric surgery in UK has become a real medical market with average of 5,000 surgeries per year and is growing annually with 25-30%. Especially for those who can effort private surgery because for a large group of patients the NHS turned down their applications for this type of surgery year after year. Unfortunately this situation doesn’t help the extreme obesity and morbidly obesity situation in UK. More than 20% of their total population is obese and may feel this is just the start of a growth in the next years. Child obesity like USA has become a real danger and is more difficult to treat than obesity to adults. What will be next?
The NHS plays an important role in the obesity treatment in UK, first of all not funding is making the problems worse and worse but funding these type of surgeries creates an enormous financial gap in their budgets. But what is the best strategy to follow for the NHS? Obesity is the largest medical danger in direct relationship with diabetes, hypertension, joint problems and joint replacements, sleeping apnea, cardiac problems and most cases also a lot of extra medication too. Would bariatric surgery not safe a lot of these costs NHS is already refunding? In USA bariatric surgery is paid back by many medical insurance companies who found out that funding is saving more money and more investments than all these other medical costs.
The same strategy was followed in France, Belgium, Holland and Scandinavia.
With respect to the NHS because of their strategy the only solution for obesity surgery is paying private. Because so many people need surgery the private prices in UK are really high. Gastric band surgery from 5,500 till 9,000 GBP, the Roux en Y gastric bypass (being the most popular bariatric procedure worldwide) know prices till more than 18,000 GBP.
Prices in India are totally different with approx. 3,400 GBP for gastric band, 3,800 GBP vertical sleeve and 5,600 GBP for roux en y gastric bypass. And those prices are average for the total care. In some case patients stay in luxury suits with their partner with no extra costs.
Because of these high prices for bariatric surgery it motivates a lot of people to chose for medical tourism to countries to cheaper countries like Belgium or France. Or even for medical tourism to more exotic places in far east. To bariatric patients, at this more than 12 million people not a very positive picture. Would the NHS not be better of funding bariatric surgery till a specific maximum like in Belgium or the Netherlands? Total price including the pre-op and post op care for every patient who falls in the International criteria? Knowing that these thoughts will be far away for UK bariatric patients at this moment, let us hope for better times for the UK. Obesity is and will be a disease what causes many medical problems to everyone unfortunately.
If the NHS would pay for surgery on regular basis, patients are better off and also UK surgeons and NHS-hospitals would also consider a part of their patient population for outsourcing. Maybe this is all future music and not realistic at this moment one thing is very clear: the moment NHS would consider outsourcing their bariatric patients to India, we, as being the largest bariatric surgery centre n India as Obesity asia, www.obesityasia.com will be ready.
