"BMI index being used unfairly"

We find the BMI cherry to be a useful tool for this hospital to delay surgery without explanation. My wife has been waiting years for a knee replacement and has been told years ago that the joint is grinding bone on bone. In fact I was with her at her last interview with the consultant and quite honestly his attitude was deplorable. He as good as told her that she was too fat and the operation would not be done until her BMI (40.5 ) was below 40 which was the score then. She already suffers with anxiety & depression disorder and her confidence is easily knocked. So no surprise that she was even more depressed and left the room in tears. She also is borderline agoraphobic and hates having to talk to people about her self. His attitude was bordering darn right rude and he basically told her the above as he was exiting the room to go to his next patient and didn't even respond to my request for an explanation properly. All she got was referred to muscatel for a year to be told they could not help her loose weight before she got to see the consultant. Now she is left in limbo with neither party making a referral back to get an operation or discussion. My self on the other hand. Have been referred twice for operations without comment to my BMI which is significantly above 40 let alone the new limit of 30. I have bone on bone grinding of my hip joint and have been referred directly to surgery to discuss options of two types of hip replacement. This is also in-spite of me being significantly below the age of 60, which is normally the age target for replacements. We find the difference in attitudes and criteria both surprising and very annoying. Or is it that a woman is seen as a soft target to be fobbed off with excuses as they are not likely to stand their ground.