U.K., Oct. 23 -- UK Parliament issued the following news:
The NHS’s support for people to lose weight should be overhauled with obesity treated as a long-term, managed condition like diabetes, the Health and Social Care Committee says in a new report.
Read the report
MPs say this should start with a reframing of obesity as a chronic, relapsing condition with life-long physiological impacts.
Weight-loss services across the country are poorly designed and resourced, creating a postcode lottery that fails those who need help most. The cross-party Committee’s report says the government should develop a plan to improve standards for weight-loss treatment, with increased capacity, clear waiting times, structured pathways for all patients and improved staff training.
GLP-1 medications are out of reach for the majority of people who should be eligible for them due to their scarce availability on the NHS. This has created a two-tier system determined by ability to pay.
Access could be improved with involvement of online providers enabled by greater data sharing. Ambitious targets should be set for the proportion of a local population who should be able to access GLP-1.
Medication won’t always be the most effective approach for all individuals – referrals to dietary and exercise courses, or bariatric surgery, may be appropriate for some people, but these services aren’t sufficiently available across the country. The report recommends a huge increase in capacity for bariatric surgery.
The Committee also makes recommendations on regulating the black market of weight-loss drugs.
The report comes after the Committee published a report in July about regulating the food industry to help tackle the causes of unhealthy eating.
Chair comment
Health and Social Care Committee Chair Layla Moran MP said:
“Millions of children and adults in England live with obesity and excess weight – a chronic, relapsing condition that leads to further serious illnesses. People can spend their entire lives battling with their weight. We say the NHS should provide effective, structured support to beat obesity for all those who seek it. Instead, those people are repeatedly failed.
“Our report urges the government to make improvements to obesity care a priority – both to improve public health and quality of life, and to save the NHS billions in the long-term. This should be done through a new, nationally available care pathway modelled on how diabetes is tracked and managed. This must also be coupled with a change in attitudes, and in language used in policy making, to properly recognise obesity as the serious health condition that it is.
“Weight-loss drugs have been a positive innovation but they remain out of reach for those who can’t afford them. A two-tier system has emerged because of limited supply via the NHS, inadvertently deepening health inequalities. This needs to be reviewed and streamlined with input from digital providers. We also heard that bariatric surgery is severely underutilised in England, particularly compared with neighbouring countries.
“This report also captures the personal stories of people who tried to get help but were let down by a poorly organised system. The stories they shared of stigma and desperation should be a wake-up call to the health service, which has misunderstood patients’ needs for too long.”
Further information
About Parliament: Select committees
Visiting Parliament: Watch committees
Health and Social Care Committee
Image: Adobe stock
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
