CORE Study

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  CORE Study: Clinical Observations and Research on Engagement in Weight Management Services.

• IRAS ID

  351656

• Contact name

  Jessica Davis

• Contact email

  jessica.davis@endocrinology.org

• Sponsor organisation

  Society for Endocrinology

• Duration of Study in the UK

  2 years, 5 months, 31 days

• Research summary

  In the UK, obesity care is organised into four levels:
  • Tier 1: Focuses on prevention through public health programs, like encouraging healthy eating and exercise.
  • Tier 2: Community-based services, such as Weight Watchers or the Counterweight Programme, are for people with a BMI between 28–35 who don’t have complicated medical issues.
  • Tier 3: Specialist clinics offer treatments for people with more complex needs—those with a BMI over 35 (or 30 if they have diabetes) or other medical conditions. These services include medication, low-energy liquid diets, and support before and after weight-loss surgery.
  • Tier 4: Focused on bariatric (weight-loss) surgery, provided in hospitals.

  While there’s a lot of data about Tier 1 prevention efforts and who attends Tier 4 services and has weight-loss surgery, we know very little about what happens in Tier 3 clinics. Only 4 out of the 42 Tier 3 NHS clinics currently share information. This makes it hard to understand:

  • Who is using these clinics,
  • How referrals are managed,
  • What treatments are offered, and
  • How effective these treatments are.

  This lack of data makes it difficult to ensure fair access to these services and to improve care.

  Previous attempts to collect data from these specialist Tier 3 clinics have failed. In this study we are using whether a new app called PeopleWith can help collect information about people attending specialist weight management clinics. To show it works, we need:
  • 50 % of Tier 3 weight management services to start using the app, and
  • At least 60% of patients at those clinics to share their information through it.

  This study will help us understand if the app can track who uses these clinics and how effective the treatments are. If the app works, the NHS could use it across all weight management services to gather the data needed to improve services and outcomes for everyone

• REC name

  Wales REC 6

• REC reference

  25/WA/0112

• Date of REC Opinion

  23 May 2025

• REC opinion

  Further Information Favourable Opinion