O’Shea said the national adult obesity clinic had considered the option when treating a 42-stone patient who could not fit into a hospital scanner.

“I wouldn’t have a problem with establishing relationships with the National Stud, Dublin Zoo or any other veterinary centres that might have access to facilities that we urgently need,” said O’Shea, who

operates Ireland’s only adult obesity clinic at St Columcille’s hospital in Loughlinstown, Co Dublin.
“We recently looked into the possibility of requesting assistance from the National Stud after one patient, weighing almost 42st, had to diet for a year before he could fit into a hospital scanner.”

“In the end, we came up with an alternative because of the whole prospect of humiliation and degradation for the patient. However, we do plan to write to the owners of the stud to seek use of their equipment, if it is available and appropriate, for future use for Irish patients. Without access to necessary scanning facilities, patients are losing out.”

An ordinary hospital bed can take people who weigh up to 26st, while standard MRI, CT scanners and x-ray machines have a 30st threshold.

The average weight of patients being treated at Loughlinstown is 22st for men and 19st for women, but there is an increasing number of patients who weigh up to 40st. In a number of cases, they have been forced to postpone vital scans until they shed weight.

O’Shea said some obese patients were now so big that normal hospital equipment, such as beds and theatre tables, could not accommodate them. “Unfortunately some of our patients have got so big that they are bending theatre tables, and breaking beds and reinforced chairs used to treat even the morbidly obese,” he said. “We manage to treat most of our patients with standard hospital equipment, but more than 20% are simply too heavy.”

Last week, the National Stud said that it did not have equipment that could be used on humans. A veterinary clinic that works with the stud horse facility said scanners, such as those required for possible use by obese patients, were only available at elite horse facilities such as Newmarket in Britain.

“These are the types of logistical problems that we are now facing,” said Niall Moyna, a senior lecturer in exercise physiology at Dublin City University “It doesn’t surprise me that doctors are looking outside hospitals for such facilities.

“These patients can’t sit in a car, train, bus or aeroplane. They can’t stand on weighing scales, there are no blood pressure cuffs to fit them and they can’t even sit down because chairs cannot support their weight. We need dedicated centres with specialist equipment to treat these patients.”

Earlier this year, it was revealed that 12 patients had died while on a waiting list to be seen at the Loughlinstown clinic, which opened three years ago. They ranged from 22 to 53 years of age.

There are almost 450 patients on a waiting list for the specialist unit and emergency cases cannot be fast-tracked because the clinic has reached saturation point, according to O’Shea.

He has worked with American children weighing up to 23st and has warned of dire consequences if the government does not tackle obesity.

About 80,000 people, 2% of the Irish population, now suffer from grade three obesity, the most serious form. Fifteen people a year have stomach bypass surgery at the weight-management clinic, and others travel abroad for the procedure.

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