Weight loss medicines are “out of reach” for the majority of adults who are eligible, the health and social care select committee has said as it warned of a “postcode lottery”.
In a report published on Friday (October 23), the cross-party select committee found that weight loss services are often “poorly designed” and that many are unable to access GLP-1 medicines “due to their scarce availability on the NHS”.
This creates “a postcode lottery that fails those who need help most,” said the committee in its fifth report on food and weight management, also airing concerns that the slow rollout of Mounjaro on the NHS could drive patients to obtain GLP-1s from unregulated providers.
The committee also said it had heard concerns around NHS England’s “clinically intensive” Mounjaro programme, which involves up to 21 GP appointments a year on top of consultations with practice pharmacists and other healthcare professionals.
The report recommended that the Government and NHS “consistently” define obesity as “a lifelong, relapsing and remitting condition that requires ongoing management” and that a nationally available care pathway should be launched, using the Type 2 Diabetes Path to Remission programme as a model.
The committee also said policymakers “must urgently reassess the pace of rollout of Mounjaro”.
It also recommended improved data sharing to support weight management service provision outside general practice, calling on the Government to ensure private digital providers and pharmacies can access relevant patient information and update records to show a patient is using GLP-1s.
Select committee chair Layla Moran MP said: “Millions of children and adults in England live with obesity and excess weight – a chronic, relapsing condition that leads to further serious illnesses. People can spend their entire lives battling with their weight. We say the NHS should provide effective, structured support to beat obesity for all those who seek it. Instead, those people are repeatedly failed.
“Our report urges the government to make improvements to obesity care a priority – both to improve public health and quality of life, and to save the NHS billions in the long-term.
“This should be done through a new, nationally available care pathway modelled on how diabetes is tracked and managed. This must also be coupled with a change in attitudes, and in language used in policy making, to properly recognise obesity as the serious health condition that it is.
“Weight-loss drugs have been a positive innovation but they remain out of reach for those who can’t afford them. A two-tier system has emerged because of limited supply via the NHS, inadvertently deepening health inequalities. This needs to be reviewed and streamlined with input from digital providers.
“We also heard that bariatric surgery is severely underutilised in England, particularly compared with neighbouring countries.”
Company Chemists’ Association chief executive Malcolm Harrison said: “As highly accessible and trusted healthcare settings, pharmacies are ideally placed to help expand the NHS’ reach – creating additional capacity and providing access to those who may otherwise struggle to access support.
“The benefits of weight loss services cannot be underestimated. With the advent of Independent Prescribing pharmacists, a national, pharmacy-led pathway, alongside existing private services, would significantly expand access, and should be commissioned without delay.”
National Pharmacy Association chief Henry Gregg said: "We agree with MPs that the NHS rollout remains extremely slow, with many people who could benefit from treatment being unable to access it.
"Community pharmacy is ready to support a wider rollout, which will help eligible patients access treatment safely and help mitigate the impact of obesity on the NHS.
"Pharmacies are well placed to deliver this service and already treat the vast majority of patients accessing this treatment in the UK.
"Not only does this slow NHS roll out create a postcode lottery for patients but it also inadvertently helps to fuel a growing black market for unlicensed or counterfeit versions of GLP-1 treatments."
