Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to make weight loss medications available to people living with obesity who are unable to afford them privately and who fall below the weight threshold required for NHS prescription as a result of using the medication.

Our 10-Year Health Plan highlights the risk that these medicines will be accessed by those who can pay over those with the highest clinical need. The plan makes a commitment to expand access on the National Health Service through innovative industry partnerships, delivering weight loss services and treatments to patients. Continuing to make these medicines more widely available on the NHS will help reduce inequalities in access.

NHS access is being prioritised for those with the highest clinical need first. NHS England has worked with clinical experts, integrated care boards, patient and public representatives, healthcare professionals, charities, and royal colleges on its prioritisation approach, which is set out in its interim commissioning guidance and available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/interim-commissioning-guidance-implementation-of-the-nice-technology-appraisal-ta1026-and-the-nice-funding-variation-for-tirzepatide-mounjaro-for-the-management-of-obesity/

We do not currently have plans to make these medicines available to those who have fallen below the weight threshold required for NHS prescription as a result of using the medication privately. For patients prescribed these medicines by the NHS, they will continue to receive these medicines for as long as clinically appropriate.

For those not currently eligible for weight loss medications, there are a variety of weight management services provided by the NHS and local government. These range from multi-component behavioural programmes to specialist services for those living with severe obesity and associated co-morbidities.