I need help please!!

[jackie nixon]

Hi everyone
Forgive me i am new to this but i will hopefully make sense.
I have had a weight problem my whole life but have managed to lose weight a few times, last being a couple of years ago . I lost 7 stone following a well known diet and felt great but the moment i started eating "normal" i gained it back plus another couple of stone.
I have always been an emotional eater and ive had a lot going on in my life this last year.Even as yet i have no real co-morbidities, my health isnt great and my knees have started to be really painful.
I have on numerous occasions asked if my doctor would refer me for wls but his response has been varying from laughing at me or ignoring the question. On my last attempt while i was visiting him with one of my ongoing health problems he weighed me and was mumbling something about needing to get my weight under control. "Err hello" what have i been begging you for years?
I then got an unexpected phone call one day from a lady saying i was referred to her by my doctor to start a weight loss programe with the group more life. I was more than happy to attend and in the 12 weeks of the course i lost just over a stone ( that included a two week holiday abroad). Whilst there i was told by the other members that doing the group and attending for a year in total would count as my tier 3 if i was looking at weight loss surgery.
I am at a loss what route to take now as my doctors surgery on the whole has not been helpful at all and i dont know where to go next.
Sorry for the rambling on but i did try to contain this post (honest) .
Also i am 49 with a bmi of 47

 

[Katielou]

Can you contact the people that you did the 12 weeks with? My GP also referred me but I assumed that now I've been passed over that they would deal with the next steps after I'd finished their programme x

 

[jackie nixon]

I'm still attending the program only 4 weekly now. Apparently you have to do it for a year before it counts as tier 3. I'm fine with that it's just it's the up to my doctor to refer me and he's not said anything about doing so.

 

[SAM55]

You could start by contacting your local PALS (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) to see if they can support you in moving this forward.

Is it just your GP or all the GP's at your surgery?

Is it worth a meeting with the Practice Manager to find out why you are getting nowhere with this with your current GP? Being laughed at or referred to something that has not been discussed with you (even if you wanted to do it) sounds very unprofessional and smacks of paternalism.

Is changing GP surgery in your area an option (having researched as to whether another surgery would be more sympathetic)? Also worth checking out are your local Clinical Commissioning Groups guidelines on WLS - all are different. It would be helpful to know your BMI before you do this (plenty of calculators on the web).

As a fellow emotional eater is there an option to be referred for some psychological help such as a counsellor? WLS won't cure the emotional eating as I know only too well! Well done on the loss, and doing that and attending the course will certainly give you brownie points if you can just get someone to give you the referral.

 

[jackie nixon]

I did actually email my ccg as I was at a loss as what to do next a very kind lady forwarded my email to the funding department who said the referral would have to come from my doctor. My whole doctors practice seems not to want to help and I really feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall. It probably wouldn't make sense to change surgery as I don't drive. Thank you for your help.