Media mention: "Well worth the weight" on outcomes of high volume bariatric surgery in the public system

Bariatric surgery has not been widely used in the Australian public health system. As obesity is strongly associated with socio-economic status, excluding its use from the public system will deny many of the most in-need access to a potentially very effective treatment. Alternatively, with rigorous follow-up and behavioural change requirements, highly successful outcomes in the private system may not translate to the public system. Patients were older, heavier and suffered more co-morbid disease than previously reported cohorts. This article by Monash-Alfred researchers concluded however that for the first time, excellent outcomes across a range of key quality domains in a large patient cohort have been reported in the public system. High-volume bariatric surgery in the public system is viable.

Reference: Burton P, Brown W, Chen R, Shaw K, Packiyanathan A, Bringmann I, Smith A, Nottle P. Outcomes of high-volume bariatric surgery in the public system. NZ J Surg. 2015 Oct 16. doi: 10.1111/ans.13320. [Epub ahead of print]