Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure Mounjaro, also called tirzepatide, is available to people who meet the clinical criteria for weight management.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) estimated that approximately 3.4 million people are eligible for tirzepatide, known by the brand name Mounjaro, to treat obesity. Integrated care boards (ICBs) have a legal duty to make NICE-recommended medicines available to the eligible population alongside the appropriate behavioural and lifestyle support.

The National Health Service is rolling out access to tirzepatide, prioritising those with the greatest clinical need. Approximately 220,000 people are expected to benefit in the first three years of implementation. The NHS is developing and testing new models of care, including community-based services and digital technologies, and will speed up the roll out if possible. Progress on the NHS rollout of tirzepatide will be reviewed by NICE in three years.

NHS England is providing support for NHS ICBs, including providing:

- additional funding to support the delivery of services within primary care and the cost of obesity medicines in line with interim commissioning guidance; and

- a centrally funded wraparound care service ‘Healthier You: Behavioural Support for Obesity Prescribing’ to refer patients to.