Pioneering weight-loss surgery ‘in a pill’ could save NHS millions

As obesity rises, more people are turning to surgery (Picture: Getty)

NHS patients have received a swallowable ‘gastric balloon’ for the first time, a revolutionary procedure to tackle obesity that could save thousands of patients from surgery every year.

Like a gastric band, it makes the patient feel fuller with less food, aiding weight loss – but requires no requires no surgery, no endoscopy and no anaesthesia.

The balloon is swallowed during a trip to the doctor’s office and filled with water, remaining in place for around four months, after which it empties and passes normally.

Obesity costs the NHS around £6 billion a year, with thousands of gastric band and gastric bypass operations taking place, while a recent report estimated the cost to society is almost £100 million.

The cost of the balloon has not been revealed, but with no operation and no hospital stay, it is expected to be significantly cheaper per patient – and a time-saver.

The company behind the new programme, Allurion Technologies, says the balloon can be swallowed and inflated during a 15-minute appointment at the doctor’s, although x-rays before and after it is filled via a catheter are required to ensure it is in the correct place.

Patients are also given access to one-to-one support from doctors and nutritionists to help patients modify their lifestyle and change their behaviour, and an innovative suite of AI-powered software will monitor behaviour.

Two patients took part in the successful trial at Musgrove Park Hospital in Somerset. Three more NHS placements are due to take place in early February, with up to a dozen others also scheduled to have this potentially life-changing procedure.

Thousands of others have already received the treatment privately, with studies showing patients using the balloon have lost 10-15% of their body weight after approximately four months. On average, 96% of weight loss can be sustained one year after the balloon passes.

‘We are very pleased to be able to offer this new treatment, a first for the NHS, that offers clinically meaningful weight loss as part of a holistic programme involving dietary support and care,’ said Professor Richard Welbourn, consultant bariatric surgeon at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust.

‘People with severe obesity are prone to diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, which can be reversed with weight loss.

‘The Allurion balloon is a 15-minute outpatient procedure, and is swallowed, so there’s no need for an endoscopy, hospital bed, theatre time or anaesthetic, which is better for the NHS and a much-improved experience for our patients.

‘We expect that patients using the programme will lose 10-15% of their weight in four months, which improves quality of life and makes patients healthier.’

‌Currently, the NHS spends around £6.5 billion a year tackling obesity and offers several types of weight loss surgery, including gastric band – where a band is placed around the stomach – and a gastric bypass, where the top of the stomach is joined to the small intestine.

These surgeries typically take a few hours, and the patient generally stays in hospital for a few days.

In addition to scheduled bariatric surgery, the NHS also spends hundreds of thousands of pounds treating patients who travelled abroad for cheap alternatives that have gone wrong.

A study of five London hospitals revealed 35 patients required care after overseas operations at a cost totalling £560,234 – equivalent to about 110 bariatric surgeries in UK hospitals.

Just this month, 20-year-old Morgan Ribeiro tragically died after a botched weight loss operation in Turkey. She opted for a £2,500 gastric sleeve operation after not wanting to be placed ‘on an NHS waiting list for years’ but died on her return journey to the UK.

She travelled with her boyfriend but on their return flight became seriously ill and went into septic shock. Her small intestine had been cut during the procedure, leading to an infection and she later suffered a heart attack.

She was placed in an induced coma – dying four days later in a hospital in Belgrade.