A man has spoken out about his distress after the NHS refused to fund surgery to remove a massive five-stone lump hanging from his abdomen, deeming it “cosmetic”. Alan Bromyard, 48, from Long Eaton, has been living with the large lymphedema for nearly two years, and his condition is severely impacting his daily life.
Despite a recent bout of sepsis that left him hospitalised for 14 days, the Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) has rejected his funding request twice. Mr Bromyard said: “I nearly died. It hangs down to my knees, it’s a right mess and needs to be removed. They class the operation as cosmetic and say that’s why I can’t have the funding. It’s a 5st lump of fluid, I can’t lose it through dieting so what are they expecting me to do? I need help, I’m heartbroken.”
He has had to give up his beloved hobbies, including farming and fishing, due to his condition.
“I have farmed all my adult life but I had to sell them because I couldn’t work them anymore,” he said. “I was out fishing or shooting most weekends. Now I’m just in bed. I can’t go up the stairs, I can’t drive to my appointments. My knees and hips have gone. I’m missing my life because of this. A nurse once told me it’s cruel living like this and it really stuck with me because it is.”
“It feels like I’m carrying a dead-weight toddler around all the time. It breaks down, it leaks – it’s just a mess. One week I had to use £176 worth of bandages because it leaks that much,” he explained, reports Nottinghamshire Live.
Mr Bromyard expressed his frustration after two funding applications for a crucial surgery were denied, despite his surgeon recommending that he would “thoroughly benefit from the surgery”. The requested apronectomy—a procedure to remove excess skin from the lower abdomen—was outlined as necessary in an application letter to manage a large abdominal pannus that is “severely affecting his mood and daily activities”.
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The Derby and Derbyshire ICB subsequently declined the request, stating: “This request has been reviewed by our screening pair which consists of a Public Health Consultant and a representative from the Derbyshire Integrated Care Board. This request has been declined by our screening panel.”
As of July 2023, following the rejection, Mr Bromyard revealed that another funding application was turned down in August. Currently, his surgeon, GP, and the head of the lymphedema clinic at Nottingham University Hospitals, where Mr Bromyard is undergoing treatment, are working on submitting a third request for funding.
An NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB spokesperson stated: “We cannot comment on individual cases. Some treatments are not normally available on the NHS and in these circumstances people are able to request individual funding requests where a service, intervention or treatment falls outside of existing service provision.”
They also added, “The application for funding is made by the patient’s clinician who is required to demonstrate that the circumstances are exceptional. This decision-making process ensures that each request is considered in a fair and transparent way, with decisions based on the best available evidence and in accordance with our individual funding request policy.”
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