"According to freedom of information requests made by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), few integrated care boards (ICBs) have been allocated enough NHS cash for patients eligible for weight loss drugs. Only nine had the funding needed to cover at least 70% of their eligible patients, the BMJ reported. Ellen Welch, a co-chair of the Doctors' Association UK, said: These figures confirm the fear that the rollout is not fit for purpose."
"Most patients on Mounjaro — about nine in 10 — are currently paying for it privately. Four ICBs told the BMJ the NHS funding they received covered just 25% or less of their eligible patients, with Coventry and Warwickshire faring the worst. That ICB said it had received funding to cover just 376 patients, despite identifying 1,795 eligible patients in the first year of rollout."
Family doctors received approval to prescribe tirzepatide (Mounjaro) in June, with plans for about 220,000 high-need patients to receive the drug on the NHS over three years. Two months after the approval, fewer than half of England's integrated care boards (18 of 42) had confirmed they had begun prescribing the drug. Most current Mounjaro users are paying privately. Freedom of information requests show many ICBs lack sufficient funding; only nine ICBs had funds to cover at least 70% of eligible patients, while several reported funding for 25% or fewer, creating unequal local access. The rollout began on 23 June and first-year eligibility includes people with BMI over 40 and specified complicating illnesses.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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