Keren says medics are concerned he won’t be able to stick to the dietary requirements
A man who has been struggling with weight all his life say he is being refused NHS treatment because he has ADHD. Keren Slater, 48, has been struggling with his weight for as long as he can remember, and has tried multiple diets that haven’t worked.
He was diagnosed with ADHD at age 38, and believes it is a contributing factor to his weight loss struggles because he would turn to food if he was bored or stressed. Keren was previously fitted with a gastric band and got down to 16st, but after six months, it stopped working and he had it removed in June 2024.
Now at 23lbs 2oz and a size 2XL top and 46-inch trousers, he wants a gastric bypass but claims doctors at Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust told him they can’t perform it due to his ADHD – as they are concerned he won’t be able to stick to the dietary requirements. Keren, who works in IT support, from Bishop Stortford, Hertfordshire, said: “I have tried everything to calm my ADHD down so I can lose weight, but it doesn’t work.
“ADHD effects my everyday life in good ways and bad ways. I can super focus on tasks, I don’t panic in stressful situations, and I am excellent at multitasking. B ut some of the bad include my relationship with food, I am constantly craving sugar.
“The only thing that will work for me is the surgery. We have nowhere to go, the hospital has discharged me, and my GP can’t help me. Their theory is if you have ADHD, you won’t be able to manage with the diet requirements – I am being discriminated against.”
Keren weighed 21 stone at age 27 and underwent gastric band surgery in 2006, and was able to get down to 16 stone. He was able to maintain the weight loss until it stopped working just months later – and he noticed he was gaining weight despite maintaining his diet and lifestyle change.
Keren said: “The band had wrapped around my stomach and gone septic. This had caused a massive infection on my chest, and I had also had fluid on my lungs. The band was making me ill, and it didn’t work anymore, so I decided to get it removed.”
It wasn’t until June 2024, Keren had his gastric band removed and claims doctors told him that they would perform a gastric bypass so he could continue to lose weight. In January 2025, doctors at Homerton Hospital performed tests to determine whether the operation was successful, and Keren claims doctors confirmed they would be able to proceed with the surgery.
His mum, Anne Ashley-Jones, 76, from Harlow, Essex, said: “The gastric bypass would be so good for Keren. Keren physically would not be able to eat the quantity of food he eats now. When the doctors completed the tests, they agreed that they would do the bypass.
“As far as Keren was concerned, he was just waiting for a date for the surgery.”
In June 2025, Keren went for an appointment at Homerton Hospital, where a health practitioner went through an ADHD questionnaire. After she went through the questionnaire, Keren claimed she recommended the NHS should not go through with the surgery.
Keren said: “When I got there, it was a doctor that I had never seen before. She went through an ADHD questionnaire with me, asking about my diet, and whether or not I was drinking alcohol – which I don’t. During that meeting, we were not made aware of any issues with my ADHD.
“Until August, a doctor told me that they can’t do the surgery anymore due to my ADHD, based on the health practitioners recommendation.”
In the letter addressed to Keren, Homerton Healthcare Trust said: “There is significant allied health professional concerns regarding the engagement with dietary changes, his ADHD, as well as high expectations of surgery in addition to the surgery risk.”
Adding that “the risks of surgery outweigh the benefits and recommend discharge back to the GP.” Keren struggles with extreme sleep apnea, constant fatigue, a BMI over 50 and high blood pressure. He said he is “left in limbo” and is hoping to be transferred to a different hospital.
Keren had also hoped he might get approved for Mounjaro through the NHS, but he only has three of the five requirements. He said: “We asked Homerton to transfer my care to Luton hospital, which they initially agreed to but have instead discharged me. We have considered private surgery, but you don’t get the same level of support that you do with the NHS.
“It would also cost me £15k, and neither I nor my mum have the money to pay for that. I feel like I have nowhere to go, and nobody is willing to help.”
A spokesperson, from Homerton Healthcare Trust said: “The Trust cannot comment on individual cases but would offer our apologies to any patient who believes we have not offered them the highest standards of care. Every patient awaiting bariatric surgery follows the appropriate policy and patient pathway, including having both physical and psychological assessments to ensure that the surgery is the appropriate course of treatment.”
