Lack of dietitians impacting the island’s obesity problem

The States is trying to tackle a growing obesity problem but is facing issues with its dietitian team.

A business case is currently being made in a bid to increase the capacity of weight management services in the dietetic department.

The service helps people who are overweight, as well as those with eating disorders, nutrition difficulties and food problems caused by illnesses like cancer, diabetes and renal disease.

But it has been facing very high demand.

There are five-and-a-half full-time dietitian posts, but one has been vacant since August last year, while another has been on long-term sick leave, leaving the team with three-and-a-half dieticians since January.

A new dietitian started earlier this month, and it is hoped the full team will be available soon, but the service has faced difficulties.

Lead dietitian Myfanwy Datta said demand had increased in all areas, in particular for people requiring nutritional support and enteral feeding tubes.

‘Weight management services have experienced a year-on-year increase in demand, heightened by the pandemic,’ she said.

‘2022 has been a challenging year due to pressures on staff in all areas of Health & Social Care, and the dietetics service has been no different.’

Adult obesity rates climbed from 18% to 23% between 2013 and 2018 and the pandemic is expected to have increased weight problems.

Mrs Datta also stressed that anyone requiring support for being underweight would not be turned away if the service felt they could be helped.

It is unclear how many patients were on the team’s books last year, but it was confirmed there were 891 new referrals and 4,403 direct patient contacts – which could cover people across multiple appointments.

The service has also successfully been running its Counterweight Plus Programme – which includes low-calorie diet replacement and behavioural changes – on a pilot scheme.

In 2021 there were 251 weight management referrals, not including counterweight. In 2020 there were 283 referrals for weight management.

Overall there were 879 referrals to the service and 4,346 patient consultations.

Mrs Datta said a business case was being prepared to increase the capacity of the weight management side of the service.

‘Obesity is a long-term condition with many different causes and some patients present with a complex mix of health conditions and co-morbidities,’ she said.

‘Evidence strongly shows best lifelong outcomes come from dietary techniques backed up by a team, including psychology, medications, exercise input and medical review, with potentially surgical input.’