BRITAIN COULD TACKLE some of its budgetary problems by allowing more people to undergo weight-loss surgery, the country’s Royal College of Surgeons has said.

Figures released by the college showed that severely obese patients can return to taxed employment and come off their disability benefits quicker, meaning they can more than cover the £8,000 (€9,700) cost of the surgery.

Consultant surgeon Marcus Reddy told Sky News that it “has been a falsely held belief that bariatric surgery is expensive. It’s not. It’s very cheap. It’s something that will help all of us in the economy.”

He added:

In the short term it is new expenditure. But, after surgery, patients’ diabetes is resolved, their medication reduced and they’re not attending hospital so frequently. It’s staggering.

One patient who lost 6 stone when he underwent the surgery a year ago said the amount of money he had saved the country in GPs visits would already have covered the cost of his operation.

The NHS estimates that 240,000 obese patients on its books seek weight-lost surgery, but only 3,600 actually underwent the surgery last year.

The government has said it is more focussed on encouraging healthier lifestyles than promoting remedial surgery.