Dentist bans obese patients weighing more than 20st over fears chairs won't cope

dailystar.co.uk:

A dentist's surgery has been accused of fat-shaming its patients after it banned anyone over 20 stone from sitting on its specialist chairs.Hove Family Dental in Hove, East Sussex, was concerned that people weighing over 127 kg could be at risk of breaking their expensive equipment.Complaints began coming in following the announcement, where the practice said it was concerned that people weighing above the red line could “exceed equipment capabilities”.The chairs are worth around £20,000 and have already been broken twice by some of their heavier customers.The email, warning patients of Hove Family’s new protocol, said: “This is a polite message to all our patients from the Hove family dental practice.“Due to health and safety regulations, we will unfortunately not be able to treat patients that exceed the safety weight limit restrictions for our dental chairs of 127kg [20 stones].“We appreciate and understand that this is a sensitive issue and want to address this with our patients in a delicate manner, but we do have a duty of care to all our patients and a legal obligation under the health and safety at work act 1974 to operate in a safe environment and not exceed equipment capabilities.“If you feel this restriction may apply to you, please call...before your next appointment.“We will discuss with you your referral options for your future care in full confidentiality.

We will endeavour to ensure that your care continues uninterrupted.”Technicians have had to come in twice in the past to mend damage to the chairs from heavy pressure, forcing the practice to close.

According to the Mail, staff have had to step in to help overweight patients in and out of the chair in the past. Speaking to the paper Practice manager.