1:00pm Wednesday 4th November 2009
By Siobhan Ryan
A woman who shed six stone has slammed health bosses who refused to pay for plastic surgery.
Pensioner Doreen Neal was left with large folds of loose skin around her knees and thighs after battling to lose weight.
She claims the skin has left her with sore knees and she finds it painful to walk properly.
Mrs Neal, 69, of Clarke Avenue, Hove, who is a full time carer of her disabled husband Terrence, 71, says she needs to be as mobile as possible to help him.
She said: “It is not a vanity thing.
“I just want to be able to walk around without my knees hurting me.
“It has left me very stressed and upset.
“I was so pleased with managing to lose all that weight which was so good for my health but now I am having to go through all of this.”
A PCT spokeswoman said: “NHS treatment is free and most procedures are available on the NHS to anyone who needs them, but we have a duty to get best value for public money and sometimes have to make difficult decisions.
“An increasing number of people are achieving profound weight loss with or without surgical intervention, and this can lead to redundant skin folds.
“The NHS throughout the south east coast area follows the same policy issued following very detailed review of the evidence and consultation with clinicians.
“This policy states that surgery to remove excess skin should not be routinely available on the NHS because there is no evidence of clinical benefit.
“We always consider individual patient funding requests and have a clear process to consider ‘exceptional circumstances’ which mean an individual will gain more from having the treatment than other people with the same condition.”
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