Thousands denied weight loss jab due to slow NHS rollout – with some having to wait two years
Thousands of people with severe obesity are being denied access to effective treatment because the NHS rollout of the weight loss jab Wegovy is happening far more slowly than planned, research by Sky News shows.
Freedom of Information requests reveal that just 800 people had been prescribed the drug through hospital weight-loss services by the end of April – despite estimates by the Department of Health that 13,500 should have started treatment by then.
Sky News spoke to several patients who have been denied the jab on the NHS.
Ken Pollock is in severe pain from osteoarthritis, but has been denied Wegovy
One was told there was no prospect of treatment, despite needing to lose five stone (32kg) before surgeons are prepared to go ahead with a double knee transplant.
Dr Robert Andrews of the University of Exeter, who has run clinical trials of new obesity drugs, said access was a “postcode lottery”.
He said: “As a doctor, you go into the profession to try and help people.
“But we are unable to offer treatment to everyone who could benefit. And that’s really difficult.
“Money follows for other illnesses, but it doesn’t for this illness. And that’s really a form of bias.
“Seeing that within the NHS is soul destroying.”
The NHS used a text message to tell Ken Pollock it couldn’t offer him Wegovy
Under guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) specialist weight-loss clinics in England and Wales should have started prescribing Wegovy in December last year.
The NHS cost-effectiveness authority said that people with a body mass index (BMI) over 35 and at least one related condition such as high blood pressure were eligible for treatment.
But Sky News asked Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), which commission local NHS services, whether they made the drug available through tier-3 weight-loss clinics in local hospitals.
By the end of April, only 14 of 42 ICBs had done so, and they imposed extra rules to restrict access – such as only offering it to patients in life-threatening situations, including those who need to lose weight ahead of cancer surgery or organ transplants.
Dr Robert Andrews of the University of Exeter said access to Wegovy was a ‘postcode lottery’
In all, just 838 patients in England had been treated by then – a little over 6% of the 13,500 that NICE expected to be on Wegovy.
Ken Pollock, who weighs 25 stone and is in severe pain from osteoarthritis, has been denied NHS treatment with the drug.
He’s been told he must lose five stone before surgeons will go ahead with a double knee replacement that would allow him to exercise. At the moment he struggles to even climb the stairs.
But the hospital weight loss clinic told him by text that there was a two-year wait to be seen and it was “unable to offer medication”.
“It’s so shocking,” he said.
“I considered going private. But I thought ‘no, I’ve paid into the NHS all my life’. So I’m stuck in a kind of loop and I don’t know what’s next.”
Dr Robert Andrews (L) has run clinical trials of Wegovy
Studies show people lose on average 15% of their body weight within months of starting treatment with Wegovy. The drug mimics a natural hormone and people feel fuller faster and for longer.
Dr Jonathan Hazlehurst, an NHS obesity specialist in Birmingham – but speaking in a personal capacity, said the findings by Sky News confirm research that he and others have done on poor access to treatment.
“My concern is that there are so many people that could benefit, but increasingly the systems are not in place to provide this care,” he said.
“Those able to pay for treatment can access it, but many more are left untreated or on long waiting lists for overstretched services that are not resourced to meet patients’ needs.
“The availability of effective medications for obesity should be viewed as an opportunity to improve health but to realise this potential will require a significant funding investment.”
Sally Hardwicke pays £160 per month to buy Wegovy privately
Obesity costs the NHS £6bn a year and is linked to 200 different diseases.
Half of all obese people with three related problems, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, will be dead within 10 years.
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Wegovy supply issues as private clinics stockpile
Sally Hardwicke decided to buy Wegovy privately after being turned down for NHS treatment, despite meeting the NICE criteria.
She has to ring around pharmacies to find a supply, which costs her roughly £160 a month. But she says the drug is well worth the money.
“I never used to feel full. I could eat a very big meal and still want more,” she said.
“Now my food is on much smaller plates and nine times out of 10 I don’t even finish what I’ve got.”
Sally said she had tried countless diets to try to lose weight, but the effect was short-lived.
“Even my boss said ‘why would you want to be putting that drug in your body?’ Because I’m desperate,” she said.
A spokesperson for NHS England said: “While specialist weight management services – which are required to prescribe this particular treatment – are commissioned based on local priorities, the NHS provides a wide range of support which is helping hundreds of thousands of people lose weight and live healthier lives.
“We are committed to working with the government, industry and experts to ensure that new treatments can be rolled out safely, effectively and affordably.”
UK
Urgent letter to home secretary over violence against women and girls strategy – as it omits child abuse
Ten child protection organisations have written an urgent letter to the home secretary expressing concern about the omission of child sexual abuse from the government’s violence against women and girls strategy, following a Sky News report.
Groups including the NSPCC, Barnardo’s and The Children’s Society wrote to Yvette Cooper to say that violence against women and girls (VAWG) and child sexual abuse are “inherently and deeply connected”, suggesting any “serious strategy” to address VAWG needs to focus on child sexual abuse and exploitation.
The letter comes after Sky News revealed an internal Home Office document, titled Our draft definition of VAWG, which said that child sexual abuse and exploitation is not “explicitly within the scope” of their strategy, due to be published in September.
Poppy Eyre when she was four years old
Responding to Sky News’ original report, Poppy Eyre, who was sexually abused and raped by her grandfather when she was four, said: “VAWG is – violence against women and girls. If you take child sexual abuse out of it, where are the girls?”
The Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse, which is funded by the Home Office and a signatory to the letter, estimates 500,000 children in England and Wales are sexually abused every year.
The NSPCC “welcome” the government’s pledge to halve VAWG in a decade, but is “worried that if they are going to fulfil this commitment, the strategy absolutely has to include clear deliverable objectives to combat child sexual abuse and exploitation too”, the head of policy, Anna Edmundson, told Sky News.
Poppy is a survivor of child sexual abuse
She warned the government “will miss a golden opportunity” and the needs of thousands of girls will be “overlooked” if child sexual abuse and exploitation is not “at the heart of its flagship strategy”.
The government insists the VAWG programme will include action to tackle child sexual abuse, but says it also wants to create a distinctive plan to “ensure those crimes get the specialist response they demand”.
“My message to the government is that if you’re going to make child sexual abuse a separate thing, we need it now,” Poppy told Sky News.
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Rape Crisis, which is one of the largest organisations providing support to women in England and Wales, shares these concerns.
It wants plans to tackle child sexual abuse to be part of the strategy, and not to sit outside it.
“If a violence against women and girls strategy doesn’t include sexual violence towards girls, then it runs the risk of being a strategy for addressing some violence towards some females, but not all,” chief executive Ciara Bergman said.
A Home Office spokesperson said the government is “working tirelessly to tackle the appalling crimes of violence against women and girls and child sexual exploitation and abuse, as part of our Safer Streets mission”.
“We are already investing in new programmes and introducing landmark laws to overhaul the policing and criminal justice response to these crimes, as well as acting on the recommendations of Baroness Casey’s review into group-based Child Sexual Exploitation, and the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse,” they added.
UK
Man and boy arrested on suspicion of arson after restaurant fire leaves two in critical condition
A 54-year-old man and a 15-year-old boy have been arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life after a restaurant fire in east London on Friday.
Three people were taken to hospital in a life-threatening condition after the fire at the Indian Aroma in Ilford.
Two remained in a critical condition on Sunday morning, according to the Metropolitan Police.
The restaurant suffered extensive damage in the blaze.
Two further victims are thought to have left the scene before officers arrived, Scotland Yard said.
Woodford Avenue from above. Pic: UK News and Pictures
Police are still trying to identify them.
CCTV footage seen by the PA news agency appears to show a group of people wearing face coverings walk into the restaurant and pour liquid on the floor.
Seconds later, the inside of the restaurant is engulfed in flames.
“While we have made two arrests, our investigation continues at pace so we can piece together what happened on Friday evening,” said the Met Police’s DCI Mark Rogers.
“I know the community [is] concerned and shocked by this incident.
The moment the fire broke out.
“I would urge anyone with any information or concerns to come forward and speak to police.”
Hospital porter Edward Thawe went to help after hearing screams from his nearby home.
He described the scene as “horrible” and “more than scary and the sort of thing that you don’t want to look at twice.”
He said: “I heard screaming and people saying they had called the police.”
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The 43-year-old said he saw a woman and a severely burned man who may have been customers.
Another witness, who did not want to be named, said he saw three “severely burned” people being doused by the emergency services and given oxygen.
“I can only imagine the pain they were going through,” he said.
On Saturday, the London Ambulance Service told Sky News: “We sent resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, an advanced paramedic, an incident response officer and paramedics from our hazardous area response team.
“We treated five people for burns and smoke inhalation. We took two patients to a major trauma centre and three others to local hospitals.”
The police investigation is continuing.
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