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Weight Management in Humber and North Yorkshire

The NHS provides a wide range of advice and tools to support healthy weight loss. We understand that many people are looking for support in managing their weight and so we’re working hard to improve access to services and new treatments for people living with obesity.

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New Medication for Weight Loss: Tirzepatide (Mounjaro®)

Tirzepatide (brand name Mounjaro®) is a new medication recently recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for some adults living with obesity.

What is tirzepatide (Mounjaro®)?

  • Tirzepatide (brand name Mounjaro®) is a new medication recently recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for some adults living with obesity.
  • It helps reduce hunger, increases feeling of fullness, and supports weight loss by helping you eat less and improving how your body uses food and controls blood sugar.
  • Tirzepatide is given as a weekly injection, which you can administer yourself.
  • Tirzepatide must be prescribed as part of a support programme, also known as wraparound care. This includes advice on healthy eating, physical activity, and lifestyle changes. You must agree to take part in this support in order to receive the medication.

Important: Tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) is not available to everyone right away. It will be rolled out gradually across England, starting with people who have the most urgent clinical needs.

Eligibility is based on Body Mass Index (BMI) and certain health conditions.

We know that managing weight can be incredibly challenging, and many people are asking about Mounjaro (tirzepatide) after hearing about how effective it can be in helping with weight loss.

As your Integrated Care Board (ICB), as well as following the national guidance, we also have to make sure treatments are used fairly and within the budget we have available for our whole population.

We appreciate that this might feel frustrating, especially when private options are being advertised.

In Humber and North Yorkshire we are finalising a new community-based weight management service to help deliver the wraparound care. Once ready this is in place, Tirzepatide will be available to patients who meet the eligibility criteria. In our area we estimate around 3,000 people would currently qualify for the medication based on national eligibility criteria.

Until then, please do not contact your GP or Community Pharmacy (or any other NHS healthcare provider) to access this medicine as they are currently unable to prescribe this.

Frequently Asked Questions

Even when we have the community-based weight management service in place, not all patients will be eligible to receive the medication on the NHS.

The roll-out (determined nationally) is in a phased approach, over 12 years. In the first year, the first group of people eligible under the national criteria will be those who have a BMI of 40 or higher (a little bit less for people from minority ethnic family backgrounds), AND four or more of the following health conditions (also known as comorbidities):

Comorbidity What does this mean?
Heart and circulation problems Specifically, you have heart or blood vessel problems caused by clogged or hardened arteries. It includes:

  • Heart disease (like heart attacks or chest pain),
  • Stroke or mini-strokes,
  • Poor blood flow in your legs or arms, and
  • Heart failure (where the heart can’t pump well enough).

 
High blood pressure (hypertension) This means that you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure and need medicine to lower it.

 
Unhealthy cholesterol or blood fats (dyslipidaemia) This means your cholesterol or fat levels in the blood are unhealthy, such as:

  • You’re taking cholesterol-lowering medicines
  • Your “bad” cholesterol (LDL) is too high (above 4.1 mmol/L),
  • Your “good” cholesterol (HDL) is too low (below 1.0 for men or 1.3 for women), or
  • Your triglycerides (a type of fat in the blood) are high (1.7 mmol/L or more)

 
Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) You’ve been diagnosed with a sleep condition where your breathing stops and starts during sleep (confirmed with a sleep test).
You need treatment, usually with a CPAP machine, which helps keep your airway open at night. (CPAP = continuous positive airway pressure)

 
Type 2 diabetes You have type 2 diabetes, which means your body can’t properly control blood sugar levels, either because it doesn’t use insulin well or doesn’t make enough of it.

 

 

It will also be available to people who need to lose weight to have urgent surgery or treatment.

In 2026/27:

  • people with a BMI of 35 or higher and four or more specific health conditions
  • people who need to lose weight for urgent surgery

In 2027/28:

  • people with a BMI of 40 or higher and three or more health conditions
  • people needing weight loss for urgent surgery

The NHS needs time to safely introduce this new service, train healthcare staff, and manage demand.

A staged rollout allows those with the greatest clinical need to be prioritised first and ensures safe and sustainable delivery.

MEDICINES

If you have been diagnosed with any of the conditions described above it is most likely that you have been prescribed medication to take regularly. Examples of medicines include statins, aspirin, blood pressure medicines, and diabetes medicines.

If you would like to check what your medicine is usually used for, you can check here: https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/

This list is not exhaustive, and sometimes medicines are used for different reasons.

If you would like to know more about your medicines, we encourage you to speak to your local community pharmacy – https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/pharmacies/

Pharmacists are experts in medicines and can provide advice and support on any of the medicines that you have been prescribed.

NHS APP

The NHS App is a useful way of being able to look at your GP health record to see information about any medical conditions you have. For more information – https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-app/about-the-nhs-app/

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-app/nhs-app-help-and-support/health-records-in-the-nhs-app/personal-health-records/

You may be eligible for an NHS Health Check – https://www.nhs.uk/tests-and-treatments/nhs-health-check/

Please check the criteria before contacting a healthcare provider.

OTHER ROUTES

Blood pressure checks via Community Pharmacies – https://www.nhs.uk/tests-and-treatments/blood-pressure-test/

Community Pharmacies may be able to offer other health checks too.

Wraparound care is the name given to the support programme that must be provided alongside Tirzepatide (Mounjaro).

This includes:

  • Advice on healthy eating and nutrition
  • Support to increase physical activity
  • Help with making long-term lifestyle changes

You must agree to take part in this support programme in order to be prescribed Tirzepatide (Mounjaro).

Standard NHS prescription charges apply, unless you’re exempt (e.g. with a medical exemption certificate).

 

If you do not know your BMI, you can check it here. To use the calculator, you will need to know your heigh and weight.

 

We’re working as quickly as possible to make this service available in Humber and North Yorkshire. In the meantime, we’ll continue to provide our current support offer for people eligible for help with weight management.

We’ll update this page and share information with local partners as soon as the new service is active. GP practices will receive communications when they can begin referring patients to the new service.

We’ll also publish a local implementation timeline to help people understand when they may be able to access support under the national criteria.

For more information on healthy living, visit http://www.letsgetbetter.co.uk/looking-after-you/

You can start making healthy changes now. These free resources can help:

No. Please do not ask your GP Practice, Community Pharmacy or any NHS healthcare provider to prescribe this medication for you, they are not allowed to prescribe it for patients who consider themselves to be overweight or obese unless they are part of a specialist service AND the meets the eligibility criteria.

If you are not eligible to receive the medicines on the NHS or do not wish to wait until a local community weight management service becomes available, you may consider accessing these medicines privately (not on the NHS).

However, it’s important to:

  • factor in all costs – including consultations, prescriptions and follow-ups
  • let your GP know if you’re taking them
  • only buy from regulated suppliers and genuine healthcare professionals

Unregulated medicines can be fake, unsafe, or illegal. These can pose serious risks to your health.

The NHS currently prescribes four main medicines as an aid to weight loss (in certain circumstances):-

  • Orlistate
  • Liraglutide (brand name Saxenda)
  • Semaglutide (brand name Wegovy)
  • Tirzepatide (brand name Mounjaro)

These are the only ones approved as safe and effective for NHS use.

You should never take weight loss medication unless it’s been prescribed for you. Taking unapproved medicines can be dangerous.

Learn more on the NHS website.

Only buy weight loss medication with a prescription from a healthcare professional and from a registered pharmacy, including those trading online. You can check if a pharmacy is regulated on the GPhC website.

Never buy medicines from unknown online sellers or social media – they may be counterfeit or harmful.

Anyone who suspects they have had an adverse reaction to a weight loss injection or any other medical product, should seek appropriate medical attention.

If you have an adverse reaction when taking medicine, are worried about its safety or effectiveness, or suspect it is not a genuine product, you can report it to the Yellow Card scheme.

You can also get advice from the FakeMeds website on how to spot fake medication products.

We advise patients and the public to refer to the MHRA Guidance.

If you meet NHS criteria, you may be able to switch to NHS treatment in future. Talk to your GP about this.

Semaglutide, liraglutide and tirzepatide are also used to treat diabetes. If you’re already prescribed them for diabetes, you can keep using them under diabetes care.

If you’d like to use them for additional weight loss and meet the criteria, ask your healthcare provider about a referral to a weight management service.

Visit the GOV.UK website for more on GLP-1 medicines and diabetes.

You’ll still have access to the same weight management services. The choice of medication will depend on what’s best for you, decided with your healthcare team.

Like all medications, tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) can cause side effects and healthcare professionals should discuss the side-effects with you. The medication will come with a Patient Information Leaflet which lists common side effects including:

  • feeling sick
  • indigestion (heartburn)
  • constipation

There can be some more serious side effects, such as low blood sugar, gallstones and inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis).

Tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) is a new medication, so any side effects should be reported through the Yellow Card Scheme, which is the government system used for recording side effects with medicines in the UK.

Tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) can affect the absorption of other medications being taken. In some cases, this may affect how well and/or how fast those medications work; or it may make no difference. For this reason it is particularly important that patients receive follow up care and advice from a healthcare professional. This medication is still relatively new, and the healthcare community are learning about how tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) interacts with other medications, for example HRT.

Before starting the medicine, a healthcare professional will check which other medications you are taking to see if there may be any medicine interactions and to see if they are compatible when taken together. While taking the medicine, some people may find that their long-term health conditions (like high blood pressure) improve, and they might need less medication. Your healthcare professional will talk to you about this, any monitoring that might need to happen and make any necessary changes to your treatment.

It is important to be honest with the healthcare professional if you are eligible for the medication. Let them know about any medical conditions, other medicines you are taking, the dose and if you buy any medication over the counter. This information will need to be considered before you are prescribed tirzepatide (Mounjaro®).