Demi
Sun, Oct-14-07, 02:00
The Sunday Telegraph
London, UK
14 October, 2007
Hospitals on 'supersize' alert
Hospitals (in the UK) have doubled their spending on "supersize" beds, trolleys and mortuary fridges to cope with increasingly obese patients.
An investigation of 150 hospital trusts shows the amount spent by the NHS on equipment that can take the weight of increasingly huge patients has risen from £5.8 million to £13 million in just three years.
Hospitals said they were treating increasing numbers of "super-heavy" patients weighing 40 stone and more. Several said they had been forced to ban the heaviest patients from floors which could not take their weight.
Data collected by the Liberal Democrats under the Freedom of Information Act shows the average hospital spent £60,000 on supersized equipment this year, compared with £30,000 spent three years ago.
Its health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "This is a stark and depressing demonstration of the failure of this Government to tackle the problem of obesity."
"We already know that billions of pounds are spent treating obesity, and the consequences of health problems linked to it. This shows that there are also hidden costs - and this money would be much better spent tackling the problem."
A spokesman for Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital said the beds it has previously used, which could cope with a weight up to 37 stone (518lbs), were no longer adequate because "we are seeing more people weighing 40 stone (560lbs) or more".
A hospital in West London warns all staff not to send any patients weighing 30 stone or more to its "admissions ward" because the first floor of the building can not take them. At Ealing Hospital, obese patients are weighed first and "fast-tracked" to a ward if they are too heavy to wait in the admissions facility.
Other hospitals said neighbouring beds would be removed if supersized equipment was required. The Queen Victoria Hospital trust in Sussex said that installing special beds for patients weighing more than 39 stone (546lbs) meant that other bed spaces would be closed.
Southend University Hospital in Essex now buys beds with a minimum load of 39 stone (546lbs), while Swindon and Marlborough trust in Wiltshire has bought new operating tables to cope with patients weighing more than 35 stone (490lbs).
Hospitals are dealing with greater numbers of young patients with dangerously high obesity levels. Ashford and Peter's Hospitals trust in Surrey recorded a 14-year-old patient weighing 32 stone (448lbs).
About 2,000 obese patients a year are admitted to hospital surgery to reduce their weight, and thousands more are treated in hospital for obesity related health issues.
Dr Alan Maryon Davis, the president of the Faculty of Public Health, which represents doctors working in health promotion, said: "If we don't do something radical to prevent the spread of obesity, more people will suffer, and hospitals will end up spending more of their money on this. We need to act now to stop people getting on this slippery slope." Hosptials have doubled their spending on "supersize" beds, trolleys and mortuary fridges to cope with increasingly obese patients, writes Laura Donnelly.
An investigation of 150 hospital trusts shows the amount spent by the NHS on equipment that can take the weight of increasingly huge patients has risen from £5.8million to £13million in just three years.
Hospitals said they were treating increasing numbers of "super-heavy" patients weighing 40 stone (560lbs) and more. Several said they had been forced to ban the heaviest patients from floors which could not take their weight.
Data collected by the Liberal Democrats under the Freedom of Information Act shows the average hospital spent £60,000 on supersized equipment this year, compared with £30,000 spent three years ago.
Its health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "This is a stark and depressing demonstration of the failure of this Government to tackle the problem of obesity.
"We already know that billions of pounds are spent treating obesity, and the consequences of health problems linked to it. This shows that there are also hidden costs - and this money would be much better spent tackling the problem."
A spokesman for Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital said the beds it has previously used, which could cope with a weight up to 37 stone (518lbs), were no longer adequate because "we are seeing more people weighing 40 stone (560lbs) or more".
A hospital in west London warns all staff not to send any patients weighing 30 stone or more to its "admissions ward" because the first floor of the building can not take them. At Ealing Hospital, obese patients are weighed first and "fast-tracked" to a ward if they are too heavy to wait in the admissions facility.
Other hospitals said neighbouring beds would be removed if supersized equipment was required. The Queen Victoria Hospital trust in Sussex said that installing special beds for patients weighing more than 39 stone (546lbs) meant that other bed spaces would be closed.
Southend University Hospital in Essex now buys beds with a minimum load of 39 stone, while Swindon and Marlborough trust in Wiltshire has bought new operating tables to cope with patients weighing more than 35 stone (490lbs).
Hospitals are dealing with greater numbers of young patients with dangerously high obesity levels. Ashford and Peter's Hospitals trust in Surrey recorded a 14-year-old patient weighing 32 stone (448lbs).
About 2,000 obese patients a year are admitted to hospital surgery to reduce their weight, and thousands more are treated in hospital for obesity- related health issues.
Dr Alan Maryon Davis, the president of the Faculty of Public Health, which represents doctors working in health promotion, said: "If we don't do something radical to prevent the spread of obesity, more people will suffer, and hospitals will end up spending more of their money on this. We need to act now to stop people getting on this slippery slope."
Economics of scale
The 10 hospital trusts spending most on "supersize" equipment in the past three years.
Dudley Group of Hospitals,West Midlands: £295,000
Royal Cornwall Hospitals: £212,000
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare: £212,000
Nottingham University Hospitals: £162,000
County Durham and Darlington Foundation: £156,000
Berkshire East Foundation: £150,000
Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals, Surrey: £136,000
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals: £90,000
Countess of Chester Hospital Foundation: £79,000
Bromley Hospitals, London: £42,000
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/14/nobese214.xml
London, UK
14 October, 2007
Hospitals on 'supersize' alert
Hospitals (in the UK) have doubled their spending on "supersize" beds, trolleys and mortuary fridges to cope with increasingly obese patients.
An investigation of 150 hospital trusts shows the amount spent by the NHS on equipment that can take the weight of increasingly huge patients has risen from £5.8 million to £13 million in just three years.
Hospitals said they were treating increasing numbers of "super-heavy" patients weighing 40 stone and more. Several said they had been forced to ban the heaviest patients from floors which could not take their weight.
Data collected by the Liberal Democrats under the Freedom of Information Act shows the average hospital spent £60,000 on supersized equipment this year, compared with £30,000 spent three years ago.
Its health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "This is a stark and depressing demonstration of the failure of this Government to tackle the problem of obesity."
"We already know that billions of pounds are spent treating obesity, and the consequences of health problems linked to it. This shows that there are also hidden costs - and this money would be much better spent tackling the problem."
A spokesman for Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital said the beds it has previously used, which could cope with a weight up to 37 stone (518lbs), were no longer adequate because "we are seeing more people weighing 40 stone (560lbs) or more".
A hospital in West London warns all staff not to send any patients weighing 30 stone or more to its "admissions ward" because the first floor of the building can not take them. At Ealing Hospital, obese patients are weighed first and "fast-tracked" to a ward if they are too heavy to wait in the admissions facility.
Other hospitals said neighbouring beds would be removed if supersized equipment was required. The Queen Victoria Hospital trust in Sussex said that installing special beds for patients weighing more than 39 stone (546lbs) meant that other bed spaces would be closed.
Southend University Hospital in Essex now buys beds with a minimum load of 39 stone (546lbs), while Swindon and Marlborough trust in Wiltshire has bought new operating tables to cope with patients weighing more than 35 stone (490lbs).
Hospitals are dealing with greater numbers of young patients with dangerously high obesity levels. Ashford and Peter's Hospitals trust in Surrey recorded a 14-year-old patient weighing 32 stone (448lbs).
About 2,000 obese patients a year are admitted to hospital surgery to reduce their weight, and thousands more are treated in hospital for obesity related health issues.
Dr Alan Maryon Davis, the president of the Faculty of Public Health, which represents doctors working in health promotion, said: "If we don't do something radical to prevent the spread of obesity, more people will suffer, and hospitals will end up spending more of their money on this. We need to act now to stop people getting on this slippery slope." Hosptials have doubled their spending on "supersize" beds, trolleys and mortuary fridges to cope with increasingly obese patients, writes Laura Donnelly.
An investigation of 150 hospital trusts shows the amount spent by the NHS on equipment that can take the weight of increasingly huge patients has risen from £5.8million to £13million in just three years.
Hospitals said they were treating increasing numbers of "super-heavy" patients weighing 40 stone (560lbs) and more. Several said they had been forced to ban the heaviest patients from floors which could not take their weight.
Data collected by the Liberal Democrats under the Freedom of Information Act shows the average hospital spent £60,000 on supersized equipment this year, compared with £30,000 spent three years ago.
Its health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "This is a stark and depressing demonstration of the failure of this Government to tackle the problem of obesity.
"We already know that billions of pounds are spent treating obesity, and the consequences of health problems linked to it. This shows that there are also hidden costs - and this money would be much better spent tackling the problem."
A spokesman for Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital said the beds it has previously used, which could cope with a weight up to 37 stone (518lbs), were no longer adequate because "we are seeing more people weighing 40 stone (560lbs) or more".
A hospital in west London warns all staff not to send any patients weighing 30 stone or more to its "admissions ward" because the first floor of the building can not take them. At Ealing Hospital, obese patients are weighed first and "fast-tracked" to a ward if they are too heavy to wait in the admissions facility.
Other hospitals said neighbouring beds would be removed if supersized equipment was required. The Queen Victoria Hospital trust in Sussex said that installing special beds for patients weighing more than 39 stone (546lbs) meant that other bed spaces would be closed.
Southend University Hospital in Essex now buys beds with a minimum load of 39 stone, while Swindon and Marlborough trust in Wiltshire has bought new operating tables to cope with patients weighing more than 35 stone (490lbs).
Hospitals are dealing with greater numbers of young patients with dangerously high obesity levels. Ashford and Peter's Hospitals trust in Surrey recorded a 14-year-old patient weighing 32 stone (448lbs).
About 2,000 obese patients a year are admitted to hospital surgery to reduce their weight, and thousands more are treated in hospital for obesity- related health issues.
Dr Alan Maryon Davis, the president of the Faculty of Public Health, which represents doctors working in health promotion, said: "If we don't do something radical to prevent the spread of obesity, more people will suffer, and hospitals will end up spending more of their money on this. We need to act now to stop people getting on this slippery slope."
Economics of scale
The 10 hospital trusts spending most on "supersize" equipment in the past three years.
Dudley Group of Hospitals,West Midlands: £295,000
Royal Cornwall Hospitals: £212,000
Surrey and Sussex Healthcare: £212,000
Nottingham University Hospitals: £162,000
County Durham and Darlington Foundation: £156,000
Berkshire East Foundation: £150,000
Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals, Surrey: £136,000
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals: £90,000
Countess of Chester Hospital Foundation: £79,000
Bromley Hospitals, London: £42,000
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/14/nobese214.xml