Funding is available for five extra gastric bypass operations at Dunedin Hospital this financial year, but management is assessing whether it has the capacity for the extra five operations.
The Southern District Health Board expects it will get about $137,000 of the extra $2 million recently announced for bariatric surgery throughout the country.
Emergency medicine and surgery group manager Dr Colleen Coop said the board carried out between 12 and 15 gastric bypass procedures each year, a figure which could include operations for patients outside its district.
Access to the procedure is determined by the surgeon after assessment of the patient.
The board has a bariatric assessment questionnaire for referring doctors to complete.
Among the aspects it covers are the age of the patient, whether the obesity has been evident for more than five years, if failures at weight loss cover longer than two years, motivation, and acceptance of long-term follow up.
Patients with unstable psychiatric disease, active cancer, or limited life expectancy due to conditions other than obesity would be among those excluded.
Referrers are also required to provide details of conditions related to the obesity and a history of attempts at weight loss.
