A SURGEON is leading the way with a new pioneering procedure that aims to combat the country’s growing obesity problem.

Bariatric surgeon Jamie Kelly, who is a consultant at BMI’s The Ridgeway Hospital in Wroughton, has become the first surgeon in Europe to offer a new incisionless weight loss procedure to decrease the capacity of a patient’s stomach.

The new technology, Primary Obesity Surgery Endoscopic – or POSE for short – is a new private procedure available to patients considered overweight, with a body mass index of 30 to 40.

While surgeons have performed many different kinds of operations to help patients lose weight, this is the first procedure of its kind to be done without having to cut into the abdomen to reach the stomach.

Mr Kelly, who has been a consultant general surgeon at Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust since 2008 and consults at the new bariatric surgery in Wroughton, said: “POSE is a genuinely exciting new technology to help tackle obesity.

“I am confident that it will offer a solution to many of my patients who have been struggling with their weight loss and are looking for a quicker and less invasive surgery option.”

The surgery comes after it was announced last month that the number of people in Swindon requiring weight-loss surgery has doubled in a year.

The UK is also the third most obese nation by percentage of the population with an estimated 23 per cent of the country’s population obese.

Adam Power, of Elemental Healthcare, which is the company behind the introduction of the procedure, said: “The tools that make up the Incisionless Operating Platform received the CE Mark in March of this year for launch in Europe.

“We take pride in bringing this leading and forward thinking technology to the UK and are confident that we will see successful results in patients from the Swindon area.

“Patients will see for themselves that a Friday surgery can mean they are back at work come Monday morning.”

To assess whether or not you may be suitable for the procedure log on to www.endobesity.co.uk or call Jill Weeks at the hospital on 01793 814848 to ask for a consultation.

Mr Kelly also performs gastric band procedures.

To find out about gastric bands visit www.bmihealthcare.co.uk.