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Starting in April, General Practitioners (GPs) in England will receive annual bonuses of £3,000 for prescribing weight loss medications to eligible patients. This financial incentive is part of the updated GP contract introduced by the government, designed to encourage more active engagement in addressing obesity through medical treatment. Additionally, GPs will obtain around £1,000 per year for referring patients to weight loss programmes, further supporting a comprehensive approach to tackling obesity.
The payment scheme focuses exclusively on the drug Mounjaro, which GPs can prescribe under certain eligibility criteria. Another medication, Wegovy, is also approved for weight loss but is dispensed solely through specialist NHS weight loss services rather than by GPs. Despite the availability of these drugs, their use on the NHS remains tightly controlled, with access limited primarily to patients with severe obesity—those with a body mass index (BMI) over 40, alongside specific health conditions. While the threshold will be lowered next year to include patients with a BMI over 35, and eligibility is adjusted for certain ethnic groups, the rollout has been inconsistent, with some GPs not prescribing the drug as widely as anticipated.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting emphasized the importance of equitable access, stating, “Weight loss drugs can be a real game changer for those who need them. I’m determined that access should be based on need, not ability to pay.” He also highlighted concerns about individuals purchasing these medications privately, often from dubious sources, risking their safety. By investing in general practice, the government aims to make such treatments widely available and shift the NHS focus from merely treating illness to emphasizing prevention.
Despite these intentions, obesity experts caution that the new incentives alone will not broaden access significantly. Katharine Jenner from the Obesity Health Alliance acknowledged the step forward but explained that NHS availability remains restricted to those with the most urgent clinical needs and that weight loss drugs are most effective when combined with ongoing support measures. Dr. Katie Bramall of the British Medical Association expressed concerns that eligibility criteria remain unchanged and that disparities between patients who can afford private treatment and those dependent on the NHS will persist. Similarly, Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown of the Royal College of GPs noted that clinical decisions are governed by patient safety and need rather than financial rewards, warning that expanding prescriptions could increase GP workload unsustainably and might create false hopes among patients who are ineligible or for whom these drugs are unsuitable
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