Central Region Metabolic and Bariatric Service

What we do

The Central Region Metabolic and Bariatric Service (CRMBS) provides publicly funded weight loss surgery for patients across the Wellington, Hutt Valley, Wairarapa, Midcentral and Whanganui regions.

You may be eligible for the surgery if:

You weigh less than 160kg and your Body Mass Index (BMI) is greater than 35 and less than 55.
You are being treated for obesity related conditions such as diabetes, sleep apnoea, high blood pressure (hypertension), high amounts of cholesterol in the blood (hypercholesterolaemia), infertility, arthritis.
You have not smoked cigarettes or used nicotine replacement products for at least six months.

Useful resources

Bariatric Surgery - a guide for patients (PDF, 98.5 KB)

Considering Bariatric Surgery - Patient Information (PDF, 91.6 KB)

Referral and prioritisation for bariatric surgery (PDF, 88 KB)

Referrals

You should discuss your options for managing your weight with your GP. They can talk to you about whether weight loss surgery is the right option for you.

You need to be referred to our service by a medical doctor – your GP will usually do this. You’ll be asked to fill in the Bariatric Surgery Health Questionnaire as part of your referral.

If you don't live in the Capital and Coast region, you GP needs to send your referral to your home DHB. If you home DHB approved the referral, they will send it to the Wellington team.

All referrals are scored against the National Prioritisation Scoring System. Referrals that score above the threshold will then be considered for publicly funded weight loss surgery.

GPs can refer you using this form.

Our team

The team providing the service is made up of:

General surgeons who specialise in weight loss surgery
A dietitian who sees you before and after surgery. They will provide evidence based nutrition education and counselling to help you achieve long term, sustainable weight loss. This includes nutrition assessment of current food and fluid intake, review of blood test results and advice about supplements, as required
A psychotherapist who sees you before and after surgery to explore your reasons for surgery with you. They will support you to look at your relationship with food. Together you will plan how to make the changes needed to manage after surgery.
A bariatric speciality clinical nurse who processes referrals, coordinates introductory information and manages your progress through the service.
An administrator who will contact you about your appointments.

The bariatric service is a small service and all team members work in other services as well as bariatric surgery. This means that there may be some delay in responding to you.