Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Number of obese patients needing special transport doubles in five years

Post Thumbnail

The number of obese people needing specialist transport to get them to medical appointments has more than doubled in five years.

Scottish Ambulance Service records show that support was required by 3,164 patients across the north and north-east last year because of their weight.

That is up from 1,566 in 2011/12, and easily outstrips the 80% rise seen across Scotland in that time.

It also bucks the national picture of a slight fall last year.

In the NHS Highland area, the number almost quadrupled from 437 to a massive 1,705 – the fourth highest in the country.

The Grampian area recorded a 30% rise from 1,095 to 1,423.

Orkney’s figures also increased from three to 12, and Shetland from four to 14.

The only drop was seen in Western Isles where 19 patients needed help last year, compared with 27 five years ago.

It relates to those using Patient Transport Service (PTS) vehicles and not emergency ambulances dealing with 999 cases.

Details of the dramatic rise were uncovered by Scottish Conservatives using freedom of information laws.

North East MSP Ross Thomson said: “This is the latest in a series of indications that obesity is becoming one of Scotland’s greatest public health challenges.

“It’s incredible to think that, in some areas, the number of bariatric patients has quadrupled.”

Bariatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity.

“The ambulance staff on the Patient Transport Service provide invaluable help for both patients and the NHS,” Mr Thomson added.

“But their job is clearly becoming more difficult across the north of Scotland, and we need to ensure they are helped sufficiently.”

The Scottish Ambulance Service said it was monitoring the numbers of requests in Highland.

“We continue to invest in training and equipment to ensure bariatric patients receive appropriate care and can be moved safely,” a spokeswoman said.

“The majority of our frontline emergency vehicles are bariatric capable, as are nearly all Patient Transport Service vehicles purchased since 2007.

“Enhanced specialist bariatric equipment is held at Inverness… for patients with complex needs.

“In an emergency… we have strategically-placed evacuation rescue mats to assist in the prompt evacuation and transportation of a patient.”

Patients requiring help because of their weight made up only around 2% of the 900,000 people who used the transport service each year.