A third of UK adults live with obesity, which can affect health and wellbeing. Tirzepatide (also known as Mounjaro) is a new weight management drug approved for use in the UK.
These medications are usually given in specialist weight management services run in hospitals, but there are not enough of these services across the country for everyone who needs one.
NHS England is testing out new ways of delivering weight management medication and support outside of hospitals. This includes prescribing through GP practices supported by hospital weight management services, community services, or online weight management services.
It’s important that we understand how well these new services work and what people think of them. This is so the NHS can provide weight management that best meet the needs of all people in England.
Project aims
We will survey and talk to people from different backgrounds who have used the new services. We will ask about their experiences including the quality of the support they received alongside Tirzepatide treatment, and their ideas on how things could be improved.
We will also speak to people who dropped out of the services to understand what could have been improved.
We will measure people’s weight, quality of life and other changes to their daily life, as well as any side-effects from Tirzepatide. This will help us understand how well each service works for people.
We will also survey and interview health professionals to understand their views and experiences of service delivery and how services could be improved. We will compare the costs of running each type of service.
We will then discuss what we have learnt in workshops with patient and public representatives, researchers, and health professionals.
What we hope to achieve
We will write a report with our participants for NHS England. This will highlight how out-of- hospital weight management services should be designed to improve the chances that people from all backgrounds can benefit from weight management medication. We hope this will help the wider roll-out of these services and ensure everyone who needs to can benefit.
Weight stigma: updating the narrative
Watch this video about weight stigma by Jessica Munafo, who’s involved in NEWA. She produced it as part of training for primary care practitioners to support the prescribing of tirzepatide. It explores the wider cultural context regarding life at higher weights.
Collaborators
- Dr Karen Coulman, University of Bristol
- Dr Theresa Redaniel, University of Bristol
- Dr Scott Walter, University of Bristol
- Dr Jenny Lloyd, University of Exeter
- Dr Carly Hughes, The Fakenham Medical Practice
- Dr Jessica Munafo, North Bristol NHS Trust
- Kenneth Clare, Leeds Beckett University
- Louise Lacey, Patient Representative
- Nysha Givans, Patient Representative
- Dr Helen Parretti, University of East Anglia
- Camilla Forbes, University of Exeter
- Laura Hollands, University of Plymouth
- Professor Will Hollingworth, University of Bristol
- Dr Carmel McGrath, University of Bristol
ARC South West Staff
Professor Mark Tarrant
Professor of Psychology
Professor Richard Byng
Deputy Director