Hospitals in England have resorted to desperate measures in order to treat obese patients – they’re requesting the use of oversized CT scanners used in zoos and veterinary practises.
According to the Daily Mail this morning, doctors have reached breaking point in their attempt to treat a population that seems to be growing bigger and bigger and have been forced to reach out to vets and zoos for help.
The Royal Veterinary College says that oversized CT scanners of the like used to treat horses could be used to treat people tipping the scales at 30 stone or more, but that they would need a special license to treat human beings.
Referring morbidly obese patients to vets and zoos is reportedly common practise in the US and Riaz Dharamshi, a geriatric registrar at St Mary’s Hospital in West London, said that during his training, he was told to refer obese patients to London Zoo.
“Imagine the humiliation for the patient,” he wrote in a blog.
“‘I’m sorry sir but you are too fat to have a CT scan, so we are going to have to send you to the zoo where they are used to dealing with larger specimens.’”
Representatives from St. Mary’s Hospital and from London Zoo have denied ever being involved in such a process, although a spokesperson for the Royal Veterinary College admitted that the prospect had been raised with them numerous times in the past.
“We have been approached on several occasions but have always said we are only licensed to perform scans on animals,” the spokesperson is quoted as saying in the Daily Mail.
According to a recent report, the NHS in England is ill-equipped to deal with the demands of obese patients, with larger wheelchairs, beds and trolleys all needed to cope with an obesity problem that is getting worse year after year.
The government has also had to fork out millions on emergency aid for obese people who have become stuck in their homes, or who cannot be safely lifted by medical staff.
It’s obvious the problem is one that needs to be addressed and if having to avail of a machine that is normally used for horses isn’t enough to convince people to cut down, then nothing is.
