{"id":316881,"date":"2026-03-01T21:44:30","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T21:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/316881\/"},"modified":"2026-03-01T21:44:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T21:44:30","slug":"gp-practices-to-be-offered-3000-bonus-for-prescribing-weight-loss-jabs-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/316881\/","title":{"rendered":"GP practices to be offered \u00a33,000 bonus for prescribing weight loss jabs | UK News"},"content":{"rendered":"

GP practices are set to receive bonuses of up to \u00a33,000 a year for prescribing weight loss jabs to patients. <\/p>\n

The NHS<\/a> began its mass rollout of weight loss injections last summer<\/a>, but most of the estimated 2.4 million Britons taking the drugs access them privately.<\/p>\n

As part of a bid to improve access to weight loss support, a new scheme will see GP practices offered a bonus of up to \u00a33,000 per surgery for improving obesity care, including prescribing the jabs where necessary.<\/p>\n

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “I’m determined that access should be based on need, not ability to pay.<\/p>\n

“Outside the NHS, we’ve seen those who can spare the cash buying privately, and the proliferation of rogue prescribers peddling dangerous unlicensed drugs that are putting patients at risk.”<\/p>\n

He said the new incentive, announced as part of a new GP contract, “will bring the principle of fairness – which has always underpinned the NHS – to obesity jabs”.<\/p>\n

The scheme is backed by \u00a325m of ring-fenced funding.<\/p>\n

Practices will have to meet certain criteria to be eligible for the bonus, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said.<\/p>\n

Read more: What are the available weight loss jabs?<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Share<\/p>\n

\n What happens when you come off weight loss jabs?\n <\/p>\n

NHS England has said its phased rollout of the jab Mounjaro could take up to 12 years.<\/p>\n

The injection is initially available only for severely obese people who also have other health problems.<\/p>\n

Some 220,000 patients have been prioritised for the first three years – but current data suggests even those who are currently eligible cannot access the drugs, and not all GPs currently prescribe them.<\/p>\n

Read more:
DIY dentistry on the rise<\/a>
Warning of ‘second surge’ of norovirus<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown, chair of the Royal College of GPs, has cautioned that widening the rollout “could end up increasing workload in a way that may not be sustainable, and risk raising unrealistic expectations among patients who may not be eligible”.<\/p>\n

She added: “While long-overdue investment in general practice is welcome, GPs do not withhold treatment or prescribe based on financial incentives.<\/p>\n

“Decisions are guided by clinical judgment and what is safest and most appropriate for individual patients.”<\/p>\n

NHS England previously said if all eligible patients – thought to be over three million – turned up in the first year, and 70% of those were started on treatment, it would take up 18% of GP appointments.<\/p>\n

Research published earlier this month suggests women and the middle classes are dominating the take-up of the jab<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GP practices are set to receive bonuses of up to \u00a33,000 a year for prescribing weight loss jabs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[163,85,46,482],"class_list":["post-316881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-medication"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}