Guy’s is one of the first hospitals in the country to roll out weight-loss jabs. But whilst millions across the UK are eligible, only a fraction will be able to get it on the NHS.
An investigation by BBC Panorama looked into the weight management service at Guy’s Hospital, which has recently started administering the drug Wegovy.
A brand of semaglutide, like the more widely-known Ozempic, it mimics the hormone that is produced after eating that tells a person they are full.
Originally made as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, the effect is a dramatic loss of appetite. As a result, it has been prescribed privately for weight loss.
Patients with a body mass index (BMI) of over 35 and at least one weight-related health problem qualify for the drug.
According to BBC Panorama, that means in the UK around 3.4 million adults are eligible.
However, with a single starting dose costing £130 pcm and rising to around £269 pcm, officials say they cannot afford to treat all of these people, as it would ‘bankrupt the NHS’.
Professor Barbara McGowan, who leads the weight management clinic at Guy’s Hospital, estimated there were ‘130,000 people’ eligible for Wegovy in southeast London.
But the hospital will only be able to treat about 3,000 of those people – those with the ‘greatest need’.
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One of the first patients to receive it was 62-year-old Ray, who works part-time at a care home in south London.
Speaking on the Panorama episode ‘Weight Loss Jabs and the NHS‘ – which aired on Monday, January 13 – he claimed to have ‘battled with his weight most of his life.’ He was refused essential surgery because of his size, at which point he weighed 24 stone.
To have the surgery he needs, Ray has to lose weight so he was put on Wegovy by Guy’s Hospital. He was one of the first to receive it on the NHS.
Four months on, he had already lost 12 kg.
Clinical trials indicate that when used alongside diet, physical activity, and behavioural support, Wegovy users can achieve up to a 15 per cent reduction in body weight after one year.
That said, people who come off the drug are likely to regain the weight they lost. For example, a study. Currently the NHS is only putting recipients on it for up to 2 years.
We approached Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust but they decided not to comment further on the issue.
Click here to catch up on the full BBC Panorama episode here.
