\t\t\t\t\tThe government and Eli Lilly have pledged \u00a385 million to fund 12 obesity care projects across the country that aim to help a wide range of patients.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Through the Obesity Pathway Innovation Programme (OPIP), 12 obesity care projects across the country will receive grant funding of up to \u00a350 million from the government and up to \u00a335 million from pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThese innovative projects will bring together the NHS, local partners and industry to test new ways of delivering obesity care that uses the latest technology and is closer to people\u2019s homes,\u201d said secretary of state for health and social care James Murray.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Obesity remains one of the UK\u2019s most pressing health challenges, with almost one third of adults in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, and one in four in Wales, living with the condition. The government estimates that it costs UK society up to \u00a3107 billion a year, including a bill of more than \u00a39 billion per year for the NHS.<\/p>\n
The OPIP hopes to transform outcomes for a wide range of patients, including those in deprived rural and coastal communities who often have to travel long distances for in-person care, minority ethnic communities, and people with disabilities and early years families.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very encouraging to see investment in these projects, given the urgent need for the NHS to develop better ways of supporting the many people affected by obesity and its complications,\u201d said Naveed Sattar, chair of the Obesity Healthcare Goals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Country focus<\/p>\n
A third of all successful projects nationally are in the Midlands. \u201cThe Obesity Pathway Innovation Programme represents an important step forward in delivering more proactive, personalised and accessible obesity care,\u201d said Amanda Risino, chief executive officer of Health Innovation West Midlands, of the project, which will use a smart digital system to connect patients to tailored clinical support and weight management medications through multiple routes. \u201cThis investment will accelerate the shift towards prevention, early intervention and more integrated care \u2013 helping people access the right support, at the right time, closer to home,\u201d she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among other projects, patients in Norfolk, Suffolk, and north east Essex will benefit from AI-assisted triage. People worried about their weight will be able to fill in a short online health check from home and will be matched to the right NHS support, whether that\u2019s advice from a dietitian or specialist clinical care.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Kent, up to 3,300 families \u2013 from pregnancy through to a child\u2019s early years \u2013 will get round-the-clock AI-powered advice on healthy eating, activity, sleep and stress, via WhatsApp. That means a parent worried about feeding their toddler in the middle of the night, or unsure where to turn for help, can get the right answer instantly without a GP or clinic appointment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Leicester and Northamptonshire, patients will receive weight management support through an initial six new neighbourhood hubs, set up in local facilities like community pharmacies or gyms. Children and adults can be referred online, or through their GP, school, or council and receive, where clinically appropriate, weight loss medication.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The government has said that there will be extra focus on deprived, Black, South Asian and rural communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n
People in Northern Ireland will be able to refer themselves and work with an NHS clinician to set personal goals, while people in Wales will, for the first time, have one clear route into NHS weight management support in English or Welsh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In Scotland, the LIMITLESS STRIDE programme will provide access to weight management support for up to 10,000 people via a digitally powered care pathway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The projects are being led by an NHS Integrated Care Board or a Devolved Nation NHS Board, and many are working with partners such as the British Heart Foundation or Obesity UK.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The government and Eli Lilly have pledged \u00a385 million to fund 12 obesity care projects across the country…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":542269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[103,61,60],"class_list":["post-542268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=542268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/542268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/542269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=542268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=542268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=542268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}