Interim Policy Statement: Prescribing Wegovy® and Mounjaro® for Weight Management on the NHS in North East London

The interim policy statement outlines NHS North East London’s (NEL) criteria for access to National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) approved weight management medications semaglutide (Wegovy®) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro)® on the NHS. It has been produced in line with NHS England Interim Commissioning Guidance working alongside our clinical experts and weight management services in North East London.

The detailed interim policy statement can be found here.

We are currently in the process of establishing new weight management services in NEL, in a phased approach. Tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) will be made available on behalf of primary care as part of these services. 

We are working as quickly as possible to make these services available across north east London. GPs will be able to refer eligible people who meet the criteria below, to a specialist service to access weight management medicines. This will likely be hosted in an acute setting.

These services will come online in the next few months, and we will update you with details of the service and how to refer into it in due course.

Access to these services will be restricted to people with a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 40kg/m² * AND 4 or more qualifying co-morbidities.

Qualifying co-morbidities (see details of definitions) are:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Hypertension
• Dyslipidaemia
• Obstructive sleep apnoea
• Type 2 diabetes mellitus

Those with a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 35kg/m² * and 1 weight related co-morbidity (not restricted to qualifying co-morbidities) and one of the below criteria:

• Active malignancy and need for urgent weight loss for planned therapy e.g. radiotherapy or surgery
• Urgent weight loss needed for organ transplant
• Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), needing frequent lumbar punctures and/or visual compromise
• Undergoing planned time-sensitive surgery for life-limiting conditions, where a high BMI is the main barrier to surgery.
• Obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS)

* A lower body mass index threshold should be used (usually reduced by 2.5 kg/m²) for people from South Asian, Chinese, other Asian, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean ethnic background