Hundreds of ambulances specially designed to deal with obese patients weighing more than 50 stone have been rolled out across the UK.

But Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum said more should be done to tackle the obesity crisis. He told the Times, “There is no getting away from the fact that if you have these people, you have to cater for them and have extra-heavy ambulances.”

Ambulance chiefs are planning to upgrade their fleet with wider doors, a stretcher for patients weighing 56 stone and a device, which can carry a person up to 34 stone down a flight of stairs. A quarter of British adults are obese. Experts said spending up to £100,000 for specialist ambulances demonstrates the need for tougher measures to stop people becoming overweight. Ambulance services began introducing small numbers of specially equipped ‘bariatric’ vehicles about four years ago to deal with the growing obesity epidemic. 

But figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act revealed how there are now more than 800 ambulances in the UK equipped to deal with obese patients.

One trust, the East of England Ambulance Service, recently trialled the new wider ambulances and over a period of eight months, were called upon 260 times. 

The most common call-outs were for falls or patients with blood poisoning. Paramedics said it is also now common for them to treat patients housebound by their weight.

Tracy Nicholls of the East of England Ambulance Service, a council member of the College of Paramedics, said, “A lot of the time we’re only finding patients when they reach crisis point because they haven’t sought the routine checks and help they need out of embarrassment or simply because they cannot get out of the house. We have situations where two or three ambulances and a fire truck arrive in a street and we have to remove a window to get the patient out of their home and that attracts a lot of attention and can be just awful for that person. It is really important to paramedics that they can treat patients, who are often collapsed or in an awkward situation, with dignity. Having the right equipment and training is a big part of that. We don’t want to be in a situation where we can’t treat a patient because of their size – they deserve a good service, just like everybody else.” 

But Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum said more should be done to tackle the obesity crisis. He told the Times, “There is no getting away from the fact that if you have these people, you have to cater for them and have extra-heavy ambulances.”