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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.
Read more:
Weight loss and diabetes jabs linked to potentially fatal side effect
Ozempic to Wegovy – what are the weight loss injections?
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