\n Just one in 141 obese people in the region currently have access to NHS weight-loss medication.\n<\/p>\n
\n This is more than double the national average of one in 345.\n<\/p>\n
\n The data from Oviva, the NHS’s largest weight-loss treatment provider, highlights a two-tier healthcare system where access depends on where someone lives or their ability to pay privately.\n<\/p>\n
\n The research reveals only 23 per cent of people in the South West are aware that weight-loss medications are available through the NHS and understand the eligibility criteria.\n<\/p>\n
\n Nearly half believe only those who can afford private healthcare have access to the most effective weight-loss treatments.\n<\/p>\n
\n Martin Fidock, managing director at Oviva, said: “The postcode lottery exposed by our data is leaving thousands behind.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We urgently need national action to ensure everyone who meets the criteria can get the support they need, no matter their postcode or bank balance.”\n<\/p>\n
\n At least 11 of the 42 NHS integrated care boards have restrictive criteria.\n<\/p>\n
\n National guidance states patients with a BMI of at least 35, or 30 with a related condition, should be able to access these drugs.\n<\/p>\n
\n However, restrictions are being imposed at random to cut costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just one in 141 obese people in the region currently have access to NHS weight-loss medication. This is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-169943","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}