Thousands of severely obese patients are facing severely delayed treatment with what’s been called the ‘King Kong’ of weight loss jabs – because the NHS rollout has been mismanaged and underfunded, according to Sky News research.
Mounjaro was supposed to be available through GP surgeries and other community services from 23 June under an agreement between NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body that provides guidance on the use of new drugs.
But Freedom of Information requests by Sky News reveal a postcode lottery, with only eight of 42 NHS Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in England telling us they were providing treatment to patients, and many of the rest unable to guarantee when it would be available.
The research also shows that at least 19 had a cap on how many eligible patients they would treat in the first year.
Dr Jonathan Hazlehurst, an obesity specialist at University Hospitals Birmingham, said many patients were desperate for treatment – and Mounjaro may be a hopeful aid for those eligible.
“Giving people open promises and setting them up for disappointment and failure is clearly grossly unfair,” he said.
“That’s what the current system is doing.”
NICE said in December that the NHS should offer Mounjaro to patients with a BMI over 40 and at least four clinical conditions related to their weight, such as heart disease or type 2 diabetes.
It calculated from NHS England data that there were 97,500 patients who should be treated in the first year.
But Dr Hazelhurst says NHS England has only provided funding for just over 22,000 patients.
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“It shows that there’s a lack of political will to fund this adequately,” he said. “NHS England says that obesity costs the NHS £11.4bn per annum as a pure NHS cost.
“Yet we can’t even afford to properly fund the rollout of a life-changing drug in year one. That just doesn’t make any sense.”
Gary – who doesn’t want his surname used – weighs 25 stone (158kg) and becomes severely out of breath after climbing only a few stairs.
He is eligible for treatment with Mounjaro under the agreed NHS guidelines. But his surgery said “no” and told him it would be at least the autumn before the drug would be available in the Hampshire area.
“They said to us that September would be the earliest they going to look at it and then the criteria might change, so there’s no knowing if I’m going to get it,” he said.
“I was so excited when I read about this drug. If I had the drug and lost some weight, it could help me move around, it could help me go fishing again, all kinds of things.
“It’s not for vanity. It would be a life changer.”
There are 3.4 million people in England who would qualify for treatment under the NICE eligibility criteria. But NHS England has said it will take 12 years to assess and prescribe to those who need it.
Dr Hazlehurst said there would never be such a slow rollout with a new cancer treatment – and yet, obesity also kills.
“There’s a huge amount of stigma that drives things to do with obesity care all across the system,” he said. “The ‘eat less, move more’ nonsense doesn’t help.
“That is a really unhelpful, harmful and stigmatising approach, particularly in an age of effective treatment.”
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A spokesperson for NHS England said it had “fully supported the rollout” of Mounjaro.
They said: “We issued guidance and provided funding in March to all Integrated Care Boards to support treatment costs, enable scaling of services and provide wrap-around care, including digital support services.”
