How long does it take to get a gastric bypass on the NHS?

Clinic Hunter

How long does it take to get a gastric bypass on the NHS?

Getting weight loss surgery on NHS is possible when patients meet the following criteria:

• having BMI over 40 or BMI over 35 with some other diseases resulting from obesity (e.g. hypertension or type 2 diabetes)
• having tried losing weight through diet and exercises
• being mentally prepared for life-long changes, recovery, follow-ups in the future.

Once people are qualified, they are put on a waiting list. The waiting time depends on the country, region, number of people on a list. Usually, these are several months of waiting, however, it is also common to wait a year or more for the surgery. On the other hand, it may happen that the surgery is in a few weeks (usually for people whose health condition is so bad that a longer waiting may cause a patient’s death). Due to a long waiting time, more and more people decide to have a private surgery abroad (the cost is much lower and there is no waiting time).

You can read more about bariatric surgery on NHS HERE.