Ethnic Minorities Have Equal Access to Bariatric Surgery in the UK and Ireland

Under-representation of ethnic minority groups in bariatric surgery rates has been reported in the USA. Ethnic minorities form 7.9 % of the UK population, but comparable data on provision of bariatric surgery for these groups have not previously been reported in the UK. We calculated an estimate of rates of bariatric surgery amongst ethnic groups in the UK and Ireland using data from the National Bariatric Surgery Registry and census data from the UK and Ireland. The number of procedures recorded per 1,000 morbidly obese patients was 5.2 for Caucasian patients, 5.2 for Asian patients and 5.2 for Black patients. The identical rates across different ethnic groups suggest that bariatric services are provided equitably in the UK, with ethnic minority groups achieving equal access.