Barry Sheerman – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Barry Sheerman on 2016-02-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has conducted an analysis of the potential cost to the public purse of offering liposuction treatment for lipoedema through the NHS.

Jane Ellison

No such analysis has been made.

There are several different treatments available for the management of lipoedema such as compression therapy, exercise and massage. There is limited evidence on the efficacy of liposuction for the treatment of lipoedema, and it is not routinely available on the National Health Service.

In May 2014, the Royal College of General Practitioners, in partnership with the charity Lipoedema UK, developed and published an e-learning module for general practitioners on the diagnosis and management of lipoedema. The module was endorsed by the Royal College of Nursing and can be found at the following link:

elearning.rcgp.org.uk/course/info.php?id=146&popup=0

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