Rotherham’s obese clinic slammed as ‘heavy burden on the taxpayer’

Figures obtained by the Yorkshire Post show the Rotherham Institute of Obesity (RIO) spent £775,500 treating 1,600 overweight adults and 200 children in the past 18 months.

But between them, patients lost just 6,100kg, which equates to 3.38kg – or seven pounds – each, a result dismissed by critics as “a fat lot of good”.

RIO was established in November 2009 to offer advice on diet and exercise to those with a body mass index (BMI) of between 30 and 40, which equates to the average 5ft 4in woman weighing between 12st 7lb and 17 stones.

Patients have to be referred by a doctor and are then given an individual plan designed “to maximize their chances of weight loss.”

But, after patients leave the programme, no data is kept on whether they keep the weight off unless they voluntarily return for a follow-up appointment.

Coun Peter Thirlwall, an independent member of Rotherham Council, said RIO appeared to be a “terrible waste of taxpayers’ money” and added: “This is totally ridiculous. Obesity is a serious matter and they should be dealing with it properly.”

Charlotte Linacre from the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “This initiative has done a fat lot of good and been a massive drain of taxpayers’ hard earned cash.

“At almost £60 per 1lb lost this is a very expensive way to shift extra pounds, at a time when the NHS doesn’t have hundreds of thousands of pounds to spare.

“These figures show that sadly RIO does a better job at losing money than losing weight, and people need to take personal responsibility for healthy eating and exercise rather than relying on the state.”

Rotherham hit the headlines five years ago after mothers were filmed passing beefburgers through school railings to children, in defiance of television chef Jamie Oliver’s healthy school dinners campaign.

Despite the fact that it was set up as part of a £3.5m drive by NHS Rotherham to tackle obesity in the town – where two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese – the health trust said it couldn’t reveal the full cost of setting up RIO as it is “independent of NHS Rotherham.”

They did, however, say that NHS Rotherham spends £517,000 a year on services there – a total of £775,500 since RIO was established 18 months ago.

Kevin Barron, MP for Rother Valley, was chairman of the Health Select Committee during the last Labour government. He argued that RIO sets patients on the right track and some patients had lost “a large amount of weight.”

“Changing people’s lifestyles is a big issue and I feel places like RIO are good institutions.

“I’ve talked to some people who have received treatment there and lost a large amount of weight.

“I think setting people on the right path is very important. But people are referred to RIO by their GPs and, ultimately, you can’t make somebody do something against their wishes.”

Joanna Saunders, head of health improvement at NHS Rotherham, said RIO had produced some “great success stories.”

She added: “RIO is a specialist weight management service which supports people in making lifestyle changes.

“The aim is to change dietary and exercise habits. Therefore we would expect people to continue to lose weight once they have finished the programme or go on to access lower level community-based weight loss services.

“For many people RIO is the start of a long journey. We have great success stories, with some people losing as much as 50lb whilst others who may have only just embarked on the programme have lost less weight.

“People completing the programme at RIO are invited back after six months to assess their progress and referral on for further support if it is needed.”

Dr David Haslam, chairman of the National Obesity Forum who opened RIO in 2009, said that a weight loss of as little as seven pounds per person would still lead to cost savings for the NHS.

“Seven pounds is really pretty good in terms of the reduction in diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol. It’s the whole improvement in general health that goes with weight loss that matters the most. We look at between five to 10 per cent of body weight lost as being clinically significant, so seven pounds – half a stone – is the right sort of number.”