NHS weight-loss jabs could be rolled out in 'high streets and shopping centres'
The health secretary said the injections were the "talk of the House of Commons tea rooms" as the government unveiled its long-awaited ten-year plan for the NHS.
The plan, published on Thursday morning, says there is a need to bring weight-loss services and treatments for patients closer to where they live, making it convenient for people to access these services.
What's in the government's NHS 10 year plan?
Patient ratings may be used by NHS to decide whether hospitals receive funding
It says the government will work with the industry and look into testing "innovative models of delivering weight loss services and treatments to patients effectively and safely" in convenient locations, such as "on the high street, or at any out-of-town shopping centre".
The government is keen to promote the use of the NHS app and expand its capabilities because digital-only models, where everything is managed online, may be implemented, the plan states.
It will become the 'digital front door' to the NHS, the government says, signposting patients to the relevant services, while also providing information and advice.
The plan also made clear that companies will place greater emphasis on the "outcomes that really matter for patients, such as fewer heart attacks, strokes or cancer diagnoses," and not just pay if people lose weight.
Earlier, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said weight-loss jabs should be available according to need, not the ability to pay.
Speaking to LBC radio, he said: 'Weight-loss jabs are the talk of the House of Commons tea rooms, half my colleagues are on them and are judging the rest of us, saying 'you lot should be on them'.
'And the thing is, if you can afford these weight loss jabs, which can be over 200 quid a month, well, that's all right for you.
'But most people in this country haven't got a spare two and a half grand a year, and often the people who have the worst and most challenging obesity also have the lowest income."
Streeting said that the government will focus on ways of getting more people active and improving their overall diet and nutrition, alongside offering weight-loss jabs.
"That's the bit of the weight-loss jab debate that sometimes gets lost," he said.
'It's not that you can have some weight-loss jabs and stuff your face with Jaffa cakes…'
He said obesity costs the NHS billions every year, adding that taxes have been on the rise to pay for the health service.
At present, people with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or more, or 30 but with a linked health condition, can be prescribed jabs on the NHS through specialist weight-management services.
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