Fridge spaces in London’s mortuaries are getting bigger (Picture: PA)
Mortuaries in London hospitals are installing more oversized fridge spaces toaccommodate obese bodies, it has been reported.
The BBC said the number of oversized spaces installed in the city’s hospitals has risen by nearly a third in the past five years.
Using a Freedom of Information request, it found that the figure has increased by 126 in 2013 to 165.
Of the 23 hospital trusts the BBC contacted, 22 responded to the Freedom of Information request.
According to Public Health England,treating obesity in London costs the NHS up to £1.1 billion a year.
The most oversized fridge spaces were installed by St George’s Trust in Wandsworth, where the number went from five to 15.
King’s College Hospital Trust added nine spaces to its mortuary but refused to comment on whether the move was to prevent obese bodies getting stuck.
In 2014, the body of a patient got stuck in one of its freezers, the BBC said.
Barts Health Trust has added three new fridge spaces and said bodies are getting bigger. It plans to install more large fridges.
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Paul Evans, vice chairman of the British Obesity Society, told the BBC: “We are already the fat man of Europe.
“As a nation we are spending £6 billion a year on obesity, and one in 11 deaths are linked to the disease.”
NHS London said: “Being overweight or obese is associated with greater risks of a number of serious illnesses. Wherever possible, prevention is preferable to cure.
“Our own sugar restrictions, the new sugar tax and the NHS Type 2 diabetes prevention programme are all part of what needs to be a concerted effort to address obesity.”
Mortuaries are adjusting to the obesity crisis (Picture: Rex)Meanwhile, a survey has suggested that the majority of Britons back the sugar tax on soft drinks.
The briefing paper, titled Are We Expecting Too Much From The NHS?, concludes that there is “surprisingly strong public support for these types of intervention”.
The authors, from The King’s Fund, the Health Foundation, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the Nuffield Trust, added: “If government is serious about improving the public’s health, it must do more to tackle the wider determinants of health through a more co-ordinated approach to policy-making.”
As part of the research, experts polled more than 2,000 people aged 15 and over from across the UK.
They found that 86% of people believe that it is the responsibility of the individual to stay healthy.
More than two-thirds (69%) said they support restricting advertising of unhealthy food and drink while 67% would back a ban on advertising of junk food on TV before 9pm – something which was proposed in the government’s latest work to prevent childhood obesity.
-yahoo
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