Ambulance services have been hit with bills totalling £27.5million to transport increasing numbers of obese patients.
Bosses have been forced to splash out on specialist ambulances and lifting equipment or pay private providers to carry people who are too large for standard vehicles.
Health leaders last night urged the government to do more to tackle the nation’s obesity crisis, while campaigners warned the NHS ‘cannot cope’ with the burden placed on it by individuals with ‘grossly unhealthy lifestyles’.
North West Ambulance Service has paid almost £15million in the past five years for ambulances to carry the overweight, Freedom of Information responses show.
It hopes to cut its annual payment of £2.715million to private operators by buying eight new vehicles this year for £416,976.
