June: Honorary appointment Richard Welbourn | News and features

Mr Welbourn said: “I am delighted with this new position, which will be in addition to my role as surgeon at the trust.”

Richard first became interested in bariatric surgery in 2002 when the first round of National Institute for Clinical Effectiveness (NICE) guidelines came out.

He attended an international meeting of surgeons who were involved in keyhole surgery when it was in its infancy, and one of the topics covered included the use of this method for bariatric surgery, which he did not know much about at the time.

Mr Welbourn added: “Seeing videos of this type of surgery being carried out for the first time was really inspiring and I felt it was the real start of a revolution for bariatric surgery.

“Despite some misconceptions, bariatric surgery is not just about making people thin, it’s actually about making people well by reducing their weight and improving their quality of life. For example, surgery can help a person’s diabetes and other weight-related diseases go into remission.”

Inspired by what he saw at the conference, Richard played a huge role in bringing this type of surgery to MPH, where he performed the first keyhole gastric bypass at the hospital in 2004.

Richard continued: “Our efforts in Somerset led to us being the first NHS trust in the UK to be accredited as an International Center of Excellence by the US Surgical Review Corporation, a not-for-profit patient safety organization that develops and administers the best-in-class accreditation programs for medical professionals, surgeons, hospitals and outpatient departments worldwide.

“This meant we were very much the UK’s leading NHS trust for bariatric surgery. We have continued to be re-accredited by the corporation since then and are still the only trust in the UK to do so.”

Richard, along with Jane Blazeby, professor of surgery at the University of Bristol, started a world-leading study called the By-Band-Sleeve study.

Richard explained: “The study, which is being carried out across 12 centres, will assess the level of weight loss and quality of life for three different bariatric operations – gastric bypass, gastric sleeve and gastric band – to try to determine which is best. surgery to use in the NHS.

“I am confident that the results of the study will change clinical practice in this country and perhaps even in the world.

“My appointment from the University of Bristol is recognition of the hard work put in over the years by everyone who has been involved in the Somerset study.

“It’s great that we have such strong links with organizations like the University of Bristol, as the academic institutes have such a wealth of research experience.”

Professor Jane Blazeby, from the University of Bristol, and principal investigator of the By-Band-Sleeve study, said: “It has been a pleasure working with Richard over the last 15 years. His leadership, academic knowledge and hard work ensured that the NIHR By-Band-Sleeve study and other projects were successfully completed. He has made enormous contributions to metabolic and bariatric surgery for the benefit of people living with severe obesity.”