Obese NHS patients sent to expensive private hospital where Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to Royal babies, as bed crisis deepens
Gastric band patients are recovering from surgery in the Lindo Wing of St May's Hospital in Paddington where Prince George and Princess Charlotte were born
THE NHS is treating obesity patients in the luxury London hospital where Prince George was born, as the bed crisis deepens.
Gastric band patients are recovering from weight-loss surgery at the prestigious Lindo Wing at St Mary’s – which charges private patients £5,900 for a two-night stay and £985 for every night after.
But the wing has been pressed into action to help obese patients as the NHS’s £10 million weight-loss surgical theatre was not being used because there are no available beds for those recovering from surgery.
Now the Lindo beds are being used instead – otherwise the theatre would rack up running costs of £20-a-minute while performing no operations.
The theatre, which is kitted out for obese people, has been designated an International Centre for Excellence but due to a lack of beds was only used for 150 operations last year, despite being used for 750 just three years earlier.
The gastric bypass surgery itself costs £6,000.
In BBC2 documentary Hospital’s gastric bypass candidate Daniel, 41, is seen recovering in a private room with an en-suite bathroom – similar to the one the Duchess of Cambridge would have used after giving birth to future king Prince George and later his sister Princess Charlotte.
Dan weighs 27 stones, has a BMI nudging 50 and suffers from sleep apnoea and high blood pressure. He tells cameras he doesn’t want to die young for the sake of his kids and needs a gastric bypass.
Bariatric surgeon Mr Ahmed Ahmed revealed that bariatric surgery is frequently cancelled because their beds are needed for emergencies but warned the policy is a ticking time bomb as weight-loss surgery saves the NHS money by preventing future illness.
He said: “Unfortunately it’s our patients who are often cancelled.
“The beds will first go to people coming in through accident and emergency. And lastly it will be elective surgery, like bariatric surgery, any kind of elective non-cancer surgery gets hit.”
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Dr Ahmed also revealed that gastric bypass surgery usually pays for itself.
He said: “If you take Daniel’s case, the poor guy is suffering from diabetes and is on five types of drugs.
"I would say that just the tables for the diabetes would probably be costing the NHS close to £8,000 - £9,000 a year, every year for the rest of his life.
“People with diabetes will get heart disease, strokes, eye problems, kidney damage, amputations and I’m not even costing in the cost of treating those health problems of diabetes.
"One operation that’s going to cost close to £6,000 will pay for itself within a year or two.”
An Imperial College Healthcare Trust spokeswoman said: “Imperial Private Healthcare is part of the Imperial College Healthcare Trust.
On occasions when the Lindo Wing has spare capacity and there is high demand for NHS services, Imperial Private Healthcare will help to look after clinically appropriate patients.
The Lindo Wing does not charge the NHS for the use of these beds. By making use of spare capacity in the Lindo Wing, the Trust is able to ensure that more patients receive their treatment as planned. All profit generated by the Lindo Wing is reinvested in NHS services.”
Hospital – the final episode – airs on BBC2 on Wednesday night at 9pm.