Thousands spent on strong beds

Aug 6 2010 by Julie Watt, Dumfries Standard Friday

SOARING levels of obesity have forced health chiefs in Dumfries and Galloway to spend thousands of pounds on super-strong beds.

NHS Dumfries and Galloway has spent more than £20,000 on beds – some of which are capable of holding patients weighing 50-stone – to cope with massively overweight patients.

Bariatic beds are generally built with a reinforced frame, a larger sleeping platform and enough clearance around them for other equipment, such as hoists, to be used.

Scotland’s health services face a £175 million-a-year bill for treating problems linked to obesity, such as high blood pressure and type two diabetes.

Scotland is the second fattest nation in the world – behind the US – and obesity claims an average of nine lives every day.

In the last five years NHS Dumfries and Galloway has spent £20,638 on special beds in the last five years.