With Ireland’s worsening obesity crisis, there is an increasing need to develop bariatric interventions for patients with severe and complicated obesity. Our collaborations with others have shown that even though we ought to provide this care, our current capacity falls well short of international norms. However, the resourcing of bariatric services is now a Government policy priority and the recent establishment of a National Clinical Programme for obesity has brought into focus the urgent need for the development of accessible, effective and efficient bariatric care pathways in Ireland. In December 2010, the regional bariatric service at Galway University Hospitals was established as the second of two national centres, at a time of unprecedented resource constraint. Currently we review approximately 400 new and 1200 return bariatric patients per year. Aside from bariatric surgery, which has well established clinical efficacy and cost-effectiveness, other domains of bariatric care in Galway such as psychologist-led compassion focussed therapy to address self-stigma have been developed.
However, anticipating a sharp uplift in bariatric surgical activity at Galway University Hospital of 18 per annum, this study will analyse the access that those in the West of Ireland have to bariatric services.
The operationalisation of the new national clinical programme for obesity has only just begun and strategies to address uncertainty around optimal deployment of bariatric resources will depend upon robust mapping of current services and areas of greatest need.
BRIDGE Study 1 sets out to determine referral patterns for bariatric patients from the West of Ireland
