Five-year wait for weight-loss surgery forcing obese people to go to Turkey

On the health budget, the minister Stephen Donnelly would only say there is “a material risk” of more money being needed. File photo: Brian Lawless/PA

Obese people face a five-year wait for bariatric surgery, a delay which is forcing them to travel abroad to often unsafe clinics, the chair of the Oireachtas Health Committee said on Wednesday.

During a discussion on the health budget, fellow committee member David Cullinane said people are “flabbergasted” at the Government setting up a productivity taskforce for the health services.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly and minister of state Hildegarde Naughten answered questions on how the well-publicised budget shortfall and recruitment freeze will impact patients.

Committee chair Sean Crowe raised serious concerns around a lack of supports for obese people in need of help.

“People are going to Turkey, and we’ve heard the horror stories of these stomach bands and so on. People have actually died on these trips,” he said.

“The common agreement was that people are travelling because they couldn’t access services, they’re waiting for years.” 

One of his constituents recently received a letter indicating a wait of “between five and seven years”. 

He raised this with the hospital concerned, telling the committee: “The answer I’m getting for that patient is that it’s still a five-year waiting list".

Ms Naughten said public campaigns are running on healthy weights and informing people on how to stay healthy.

Health budget

On wider financial concerns, Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane warned it is now “ a certainty“ the health budget will require a supplementary estimate.

“We are here today to discuss estimates, there has to be a level of reality to it,” he said, adding there is clearly not enough money for the HSE to stand still or run new developments.

In response, the minister would only say there is “a material risk” of more money being needed.

Mr Cullinane criticised the taskforce. He said it should already be part of HSE CEO Bernard Gloster’s job to monitor this as well as the secretary general of the Department.

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“There is a level of cynicism around this” among healthcare workers, he said.

Mr Donnelly defended the plan, saying there are differences in achievements between hospitals and also between specialities.

He said “theoretically” monitoring this is part of their job, but added that the HSE does not have a culture of performance management and productivity and making savings at the moment.

Hospital overcrowding

The committee also heard from Fianna Fáil TD for Clare, Cathal Crowe, about the distressing levels of overcrowding continuing at University Hospital Limerick.

He described spending two-and-a-half days on a trolley over New Year’s Eve, saying staff were “incredible” despite the pressures.

“Yet I could see the huge limitations and pressures they were facing on the wards,” he said.

Alleviating the “funnelled pressure” which the hospital experiences every day of the year could be helped by increasing supports for smaller hospitals in the region, he suggested to the minister.

Mr Donnelly said the Ennis local injury unit is being supported, but he would like to see more advertising and promotion of this so people know what is available there.