New 90-minute weight loss op that shrinks your stomach set for NHS green light

OBESE Brits could have stomach-shrinking surgery on the NHS using just a tube down their throat.

Health watchdog NICE today proposed approving endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty for people who don’t want weight loss surgery.

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The 90-minute op works by folding and stitching the stomach from the inside to shrink it by two thirds and stop the patient eating so much.

A study showed nearly eight in 10 patients lost a quarter of their body weight within a year of the surgery.

One in four adults in England are obese – more than 10million people.

Obesity costs the NHS around £6.5billion a year and medics are scrambling to slim us down, with a boom in demand for weight-loss jabs like Ozempic.

Professor Jonathan Benger, chief medical officer at NICE, said: “Our committee has found endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty to be safe and effective.

“It can reduce the size of the stomach and therefore make people feel fuller on a smaller amount of food.

“One of the benefits is that this procedure can be carried out as a day case, and not involve an overnight stay, reducing the time people spend in hospital. 

“Recovery is also quicker.”

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To be eligible patients must have a body mass index (BMI) higher than 30 and have tried and failed to shift the flab by dieting and exercise.