Pharmacies Boost Obesity Support For Patients

Tens of thousands of NHS patients living with obesity could get cutting-edge help to improve their health, thanks to a new health innovation programme being announced today (Tuesday 12 August).

Backed by up to £85 million from the government and Lilly - one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies - this programme could make it easier for patients living with obesity to access holistic care to improve their health. It will do so by enabling access to weight management care more easily, wherever they live, through new routes like digital platforms, local community-based access, and pharmacies.

Improving the health of patients living with obesity will help to ease pressure on the NHS and GPs, as well as helping more people living with obesity to participate fully in work, supporting the government's Plan for Change mission to rebuild the health system and support people to live healthier lives.

The UK government will contribute up to £50 million of new UK-wide investment, and Lilly will contribute up to £35 million of grant funding, with NHS organisations able to come up with proposals and apply for a share of the funding. At least £10 million of this funding is earmarked to support proposals in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The programme will be open to proposals from across the UK. In participating areas, eligible patients could access innovative services as early as summer 2026.

Besides the potential benefits to individuals' health and wellbeing, this could help bring down the £11 billion annual cost to the NHS of supporting patients living with obesity. This programme comes as a result of the prospective landmark collaboration which was agreed between the government and Lilly at the International Investment Summit in October last year, which could generate up to £279m of investment.

Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said:

New ways of accessing support to tackle obesity, such as through pharmacies or with help from digital tools, could be transformational for people's quality of life, and for society - allowing individuals to more easily manage their weight and freeing them from ill-health that holds them back in daily life - while reducing the strain on our NHS.

This programme also underlines life sciences' critical value to our Plan for Change and our modern Industrial Strategy. By working hand-in-hand with one of the world's largest life sciences companies, we are driving investment into the UK and tackling one of the greatest health challenges of our era.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said :

Obesity is now one of the leading causes of ill health, costing the NHS billions. Yet, we now have the science, technology and knowledge to help tackle the obesity epidemic, if we seize this opportunity.

As we shift our focus from treatment to prevention with our 10 Year Health Plan we are also determined to bring revolutionary modern care to everyone that needs it, not just those who can afford to pay.

This collaboration will help patients living with obesity in a matter of months - through testing better access to weight loss services and treatments.

In the long-term it will inform how we can better tackle one of the biggest modern day health challenges and, through our Plan for Change, create an NHS that is fit for the future.

Professor Rachel Batterham, Senior Vice President for International Medical Affairs at Lilly said:

The launch of this programme marks an important milestone in advancing new models of care for obesity. At Lilly, we are deeply committed to addressing the complex health challenge of obesity, and we are pleased to collaborate with the UK government and NHS partners. Together, we aim to build an evidence base that could transform health outcomes for people living with obesity.

NHS England national medical director Dr Claire Fuller said:

Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges we face and costs the NHS billions of pounds every year, so this collaboration between government and industry to drive new ways of supporting people with obesity could make a huge difference.

The NHS is already developing and rolling out a range of ways to help people to manage their weight and live healthier lives, with patients benefiting from wraparound care from local weight management teams and via online support services, but we are excited by the potential of this collaboration to accelerate efforts to tackle obesity as the NHS moves from treatment to prevention as part of the 10-Year Health Plan.

Healthcare stakeholders across the NHS such as care boards, working with technology providers, will be invited to submit bids to pilot innovative models of care for people living with obesity, outside of existing specialist weight management services to increase capacity and avoid those services being overburdened.

The programme, which will be delivered together with Innovate UK, will provide patients living with obesity with new ways to access comprehensive holistic weight management support, including a range of wraparound services, and potentially obesity treatments (for eligible patients as clinically appropriate), or support by digital tools.

A central part of this programme will be finding new ways to deliver obesity care that are accessible to everyone who can benefit from them, regardless of their background.

This builds on our recent investment through Innovate UK into 23 projects from the Weight Management Pathway Design Accelerator. Led by Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) and health boards across the UK, these focused three-month projects are exploring new ways to design more personalised and joined-up weight management support, delivered in local communities where it's easier for people to access.

Patient eligibility will be decided by clinicians at local level, with all services adhering to national guidelines, NHS governance and clinical standards, ensuring a patient centric approach aligned to local need.

Notes:

• The work being announced today is a demonstration of the £108 billion life sciences sector's value to the UK economy, in both improving public health and keeping the UK at the forefront of scientific progress. Life sciences' critical role in the modern Industrial Strategy, and the government's ambitious plans for its continued success, are laid out in the Life Sciences Sector Plan.
• The government is determined to back the UK life sciences sector to support the delivery of innovative new ways of tackling obesity, alongside introducing measures to prevent obesity in the first place, such as restrictions on junk food advertising, to help ease pressure on the NHS.
• This collaboration falls under the Obesity Healthcare Goals programme, aiming to set the stage for government to work with industry to trial innovative approaches to treating obesity as part of a rounded package of care.
• Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation, is the UK's innovation agency. Their mission is to help companies to grow through their development and commercialisation of new products, processes and services, supported by an outstanding innovation ecosystem that is agile, inclusive and easy to navigate.