A LEADING specialist in obesity from Wirral is to call on the Government to increase surgery to deal with the problem.

In a speech to be given at a major medical conference in Birmingham tomorrow, obesity surgeon David Kerrigan, of Gravitas, will call for more obesity surgery to be funded by the NHS.

An honorary senior lecturer in surgery at the University of Liverpool, Mr Kerrigan practises at the Spire Murrayfield Hospital, in Wirral, and advised the Government on the NICE obesity guidelines used today.

He said: “Like it or loathe it, bariatric surgery is slowly emerging from the shadows into mainstream clinical practice.

“More and more evidence highlights its effectiveness as a treatment for not just obesity but also associated metabolic complications such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and sleep apnoea.

“Sadly, ingrained ignorance and prejudice still dominate the debate around NHS-funded provision of obesity surgery.”

According to David Kerrigan, primary care physicians spent £600m on diabetes care last year and a further £50m on anti-obesity drugs he said were of “dubious long-term efficacy”.