At present, NHS Rotherham funds RIO for any patient that is registered to a Rotherham GP  

ANY healthcare professional (HCP) can refer appropriate patients to RIO if they meet the NHS Rotherham referral criteria. 

This means that it can be your GP, hospital consultant, nurse, school nurse, dietitian, healthcare assistant, pharmacist, or anyone else who is able to weight and measure you, in order to assess your Body Mass Index (BMI) and/or waist circumference (in an adult), or BMI centile (in a child). 

The NHS Rotherham referral criteria to be prescribed a trip to RIO are: 

• Not achieving NHS Rotherham weight loss targets at an NHS Rotherham tier 2 community weight management programme (Reshape Rotherham for adults or Carnegie Clubs for children) 
• A Body Mass Index (BMI) of greater than 40 
• A Body Mass Index (BMI) of greater than 30 with a comorbitity (see below) 
• A raised waist circumference of greater than 88cm in a woman or 102cm in a man with a comorbidity (see below) 

Comorbities: 

These are significant medical conditions that can be caused by, or worsened by, being overweight or obese. 

These include: 

Established cardiovascular disease 

Hypertension (high blood pressure) 

Dylipidaemia (abnormal cholesterol) 

Diabetes 

Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA) 

Asthma/COPD 

Severe Osteoarthritis 

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome 

Fertility problems 

and many others 

Your healthcare professional will be able to give you advice on these conditions. 

The referral form requires the referrer to provide basic patient information, and details of who their General Practitioner is. 

The form is designed to take less than a minute to complete, and can be sent or faxed directly to RIO. 

Patients who meet the criteria will be contacted by Lynn Senior, the RIO Supervisor in order to arrange an initial appointment.

Please click here to download the referral form.