Access to Weight Management Medicines in NW London

Reminder - Access to Weight Management Medicines in NW London

North West London is implementing NHS England’s interim commissioning guidance for prescribing Wegovy® (semaglutide) and Mounjaro® (tirzepatide) for weight management. Access is being introduced through a phased rollout, starting with patients who have the highest clinical need:

Current cohort eligibility criteria

• BMI ≥ 40* kg/m² with four or more co-morbidities:
  cardiovascular disease, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, obstructive sleep apnoea, and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
• BMI ≥ 35* kg/m² with one co-morbidity and urgent clinical need, such as:
  active malignancy requiring urgent weight loss for therapy, urgent weight loss needed for organ transplant, idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) with visual compromise, planned time-sensitive surgery for life-limiting conditions, under NHS fertility care requiring weight loss for assisted conception, or obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS).
  *Ethnicity adjustment: reduce BMI threshold by 2.5 kg/m² for South Asian, Chinese, other Asian, Middle Eastern, Black African, or African-Caribbean backgrounds.

Advice to Primary Care GP/ Clinicians

• Patients cannot self-refer for NHS-funded weight management medication; referrals need to be initiated in primary care.
• For patients transitioning from private care, eligibility is assessed at the point of NHS referral, not when private treatment began.
• This is an interim position and will be updated as national guidance evolves.

For full prescribing criteria and referral pathways, please refer to the following resources:

Interim position statement: Prescribing semaglutide (Wegovy®) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) for weight management on the NHS in North West London