Specialist weight-loss services in England are turning patients away with experts suggesting the demand for weight-loss injections may be fuelling the rise in referrals. One in six integrated care boards (ICBs) in England, which are responsible for planning health services for their local population, have stopped accepting new patients for specialist weight management services as their referral numbers spiral out of control, an investigation by The BMJ has found. At least seven out of 42 ICBs across the country – covering Manchester, Bristol, Suffolk, Leicester, Essex, and much of Yorkshire – have had to close a specialist (tier 3) weight management service list in their area, with many warning that demand is far exceeding capacity.
One obesity service reached its three-year quota of patients in less than 17 weeks. Experts have said the rise in obesity and the demand for weight-loss injections, such as Ozempic and Wegovy, may be fuelling the increase in referrals, but they blame a lack of consistent government policy for hindering the ability of weight management services to keep up with the growing demand. Across England, almost two thirds (64 per cent) of adults are estimated to be overweight or obese.
But in April 2022, the Government pulled its £100m funding grant for weight management services in England, just a year after it was announced. Nerys Astbury, associate professor of diet and obesity at the University of Oxford, described the availability of specialist we.
