NHS to offer more than 100,000 patients free weight-loss jabs
The new government deal would make weight-loss medication available through pharmacies, gyms, and online assessments
More than 100,000 people will be offered free weight-loss jabs through gyms, pharmacies, smartphones and online assessments.
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The NHS is launching new pilot schemes to speed up the rollout of weight-loss medication that ministers are calling a major shake-up of obesity care.
Under the plans, people in some parts of England will be able to refer themselves online for help, with the available support ranging from lifestyle coaching to injections and, eventually, pills.
Other areas will offer weight-loss medicine through community pharmacies, local gyms and neighbourhood hubs, with some patients referred by GPs, schools or councils.
The schemes will use artificial intelligence to help identify which patients should be prioritised, although final prescribing decisions will still be made by clinicians.
Read more: 'I’m 40 stone and trapped in my home… but NHS says I don't qualify for weight-loss jabs'
Science Secretary Liz Kendall said the programme was designed to reach people where they are, whether that is in a local pharmacy, through an app on their phone or in their own language.
She said almost one in three adults in the UK is living with obesity and argued that the new projects would help break down the barriers that have slowed access to treatment for too many people.
The move comes after more than two million people in England have already turned to weight-loss jabs, with the overwhelming majority paying privately rather than getting treatment through the NHS.
Demand is expected to rise further after regulators approved daily weight-loss pills, which could be made available soon and may eventually be included in the new pilot programmes.
At the moment, NHS access remains tightly restricted, with many patients who might be eligible being sent to specialist clinics that have long waiting lists.
The new deal, worth £85 million, has been struck with Eli Lilly, the company behind Mounjaro, and will test faster ways of getting medication to patients, including the possible use of its pill orforglipron if it is approved.
Some of the pilot projects will also focus on children and teenagers, despite concerns about using these drugs in younger age groups, with research suggesting around one in three children in specialist NHS weight-loss clinics are already being prescribed injections.
The wider programme, called the Obesity Pathway Innovation Programme, will run until March 2029 and is intended to show whether community-based and tech-driven services can make obesity care quicker, closer to home and easier to access.