West Midlands gets new ambulances for heavily overweight

More than £300,000 has been spent on four new ambulances in the West Midlands, specially designed for carrying extremely overweight people.



They’re equipped with double-width trolley stretchers to accommodate patients weighing up to 50 stone and include hoists and inflatable lifting cushions.

Existing vehicles are also having to be upgraded to satisfy a rising average weight among the UK population.

The West Midlands was named Europe’s obesity capital in a study published in January, with NHS Trusts in our region working at driving figures down.

Nigel Wells from the service said: “Dealing with patients who’re severely overweight isn’t as uncommon as you might think.”

“This is happening up to 2 or 3 times a day across the region – but obviously when you need that sort of facility, you need to have the capability to do it.”

“It’s important we give equality of service to all our patients – regardless of their size.”

Each of the new wider ambulances costs up to £90,000.