The Gastric Band Surgery Group (GBSG) are registered with the National Institute of Obesity Program Practice Standards (NIOPPS) therefore all GBSG practitioners are accredited within the NIOPPS accreditation scheme and are qualified to assess and treat patients who either wish to have gastric band surgery or have already had gastric band surgery and require aftercare and support.

A gastric band surgical operation is a weight loss surgery procedure where the size of your stomach is reduced by placing an adjustable gastric band around the top of your stomach so that you can only eat small meals. Your care should be adapted to meet your individual needs and may differ from what is described here. So it’s important that you follow your practitioner’s advice.

About a gastric band operation

A gastric band operation involves placing an adjustable band around the upper part of your stomach to create a small pouch. This pouch fills up quickly with the food you eat.  The food then passes slowly through the narrow opening created by the gastric band, into the lower part of your stomach. The food then passes normally through the rest of your digestive system allowing you to absorb the full nutritional value in that food.

Surgery is usually recommended only if non-surgical treatments, such as diet, exercise and medicines haven’t worked.

What are the alternatives to a gastric band?

Alternative options are to have gastric bypass surgery, or a gastric balloon.  There are some people who because of their medical history cannot have either of these procedures. The reason for choosing a NIOPPS accredited practitioner, it to ensure that you get the right procedure for your needs and personality type, as well as taking into account your full medical history.