Half of NHS staff are overweight or obese and should consider surgery in order to set a better example for patients, a report will say.

NHS organisations must do more to ensure the health and well-being of their staff as this can impact on patient care, the working group at the Royal College of Physicians said.

Overweight and obesity levels among the 1.4m NHS staff mirror that of the general population in that almost half are considered to heavy.

Yet a recent report found less than one in ten trusts had a plan or policy to reduce obesity amongst staff approved by the board.

NHS organisations should implement guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence on health improvement among staff just the same as other workplaces, it said.

John Wass, author of the new report told the Sunday Times: “We want to make sure that people who working in the hospital health service are exposed to the ability to get help where they need it, because a lot of them are overweight.”

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