Hospital floor can't take fat patients weight

Staff at a London hospital have been warned not to send obese patients to its first floor waiting room amid fears the building will not take their weight.

Patients at Ealing Hospital who weigh 30 stone or more are instead being fast-tracked to ground floor wards because management are worried they are too heavy for the admissions ward upstairs.

The revelation is part of an investigation which shows hospitals have doubled their spending to treat overweight patients and cope with Britain's mounting obesity crisis.

The average hospital spent £60,000 on "supersized" equipment including beds, trolleys and mortuary fridges to treat obese patients compared with £30,000 just three years ago.

The growing concern over the health of the nation comes ahead of a study, out on Wednesday, which will predict that half the population could be obese within the next 25 years. The Foresight report will also warn that the epidemic will cost the country £45billion by 2050 in lost productivity and patient treatment.

The figures from the Liberal Democrats come from an investigation of 150 hospital trusts which shows the amount spent on larger patients has risen from £5.8 million to £13 million in just three years.

They also revealed that Southend University Hospital in Essex now buys beds which can carry a minimum load of 39 stone while the Queen Victoria Hospital trust in Sussex is installing bigger beds, meaning the loss of many smaller bed spaces. As well as this, the data shows that the number of obese adults admitted to hospital has risen 45 per cent since 2002 and obese children by 30 per cent.

Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "This is a stark and depressing demonstration of the Government's failure to tackle the obesity crisis.

"We already know billions of pounds are spent treating obesity and the consequences of health problems linked to it. This shows that there are also hidden costs and this money would be much better spent tackling the problem."

Today schools minister Ed Balls called on schools to do more to encourage teenage girls to take part in sports to tackle obesity. He said schools should scrap "embarrassing" gym kits and offer alternative activities such as frisbee and yoga sessions to ensure they take part in physical exercise.

And the Government has also unveiled plans to ban unhealthy 'trans fats' - which increase the shelf life of food - that have been blamed for the massive rise in obese people.

Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury and Asda could all have to withdraw products including pizzas, ice cream and biscuits made with trans fats after the secretary of state for health Alan Johnson ordered an inquiry into how the food industry is fuelling obesity.

Dr David Haslam, of the National Obesity Forum, said trans fats were "evil" and there was no excuse for them not to be banned. But he added: "This clampdown does come as a smokescreen. Trans fats are already on the way out, so this makes it look as though the Government is doing something."