Galway’s obesity problem is getting so big the city’s two public hospitals are expanding services to help treat the growing numbers of overweight patients.
A total of 72 patients are on an outpatients list waiting to have gastric bypass surgery at Galway University Hospitals (UHG and Merlin Park).
Gastric bypass surgery, or bariatric surgery, is an option for severely obese patients, who have not been able to lose weight through other methods.
It involves reducing the size of the stomach with a gastric band or the removal of a portion of the stomach.
Some 785 patients were reviewed at GUH outpatient clinics in the first six months of this year, and 131 of these were new patients. Some 72 people are awaiting bariatric surgery at GUH.
During 2015, some 36 bariatric surgery procedures were carried out at GUH, which included 20 public and 12 private patients.
A further 22 patients had bariatric surgeries in the first six months of this year, including 12 public and 10 private patients.
For more on Galway’s obesity problem, see this week’s Galway City Tribune