National Evaluation of Weight-medication Access
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluation of models of care to provide national access to anti-obesity medication in England
IRAS ID
340156
Contact name
Karen Coulman
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bristol, Research Governance
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 3 months, 31 days
Research summary
One third of UK adults live with obesity, which can affect health and well-being. Specialist weight management services in hospitals lack nationwide availability or enough capacity. A new weight management medication, called tirzepatide (Mounjaro), has been approved for use in the UK. NHS England is testing out new ways of delivering that treatment outside of hospitals. These services might include prescribing through GP practices, other community-based providers or pharmacies, combined with support to make long term lifestyle changes.
It is important that we understand how these new ways of providing weight management services can best be delivered and to find out what people think of them.
We will survey and interview people from different backgrounds who have used the new services. We will ask about their experiences including the quality of the support they received alongside treatment, and their ideas on how things could be improved. We will also speak to people who dropped out of the programmes to understand what could have been improved. We will measure people’s weight, quality of life, and other changes to their daily life, as well as any medication side-effects so we can compare how well each type of service works for people.
We will also survey and interview health professionals to understand their views and experiences of service delivery, and how services could be improved. We will compare the costs of running each type of service.
We will then discuss what we have learnt in workshops with patient and public representatives, researchers, and health professionals, and together write a report that advises on how services should be improved to make them more accessible for people from all backgrounds.
REC name
South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/SW/0136
Date of REC Opinion
18 Dec 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion