Pharmacists may be handed power to prescribe weight loss jabs on NHS
Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, is looking at expanding the list of medics who are able to hand out the jab beyond GPs.
The proposals will form part of a 10-year plan to boost the nation's health, which will be unveiled by Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday.
Under the plans, the role of pharmacies in treating more minor conditions will be ramped up to make them a 'major player on NHS front line'. They will be given extra powers to help more patients who are suffering from issues like obesity, asthma, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Mr Streeting said: 'I'm determined to get the care you need as close as possible to your home and, as pillars of our communities, pharmacies will play a vital role.
'The nation's high streets will join the front line of NHS care, as pharmacists get far more power to prescribe and manage a range of health conditions. Our Plan for Change will give patients greater choice and access to the right care, so your healthcare fits around your life – not the other way round.'
Officials confirmed that, as part of the plans, they are exploring giving high street pharmacists the power to prescribe Wegovy and Mounjaro over the counter. Currently these drugs can only be given out on the NHS by a GP or a hospital clinician.
This month, the health service announced that it would start prescribing Mounjaro, a weight-loss drug, for free to severe obesity sufferers. Around 250,000 people with a BMI of 40 or over and at least four conditions relating to obesity, including high blood pressure or heart disease, will benefit.
Britons can also buy Mounjaro and Wegovy from licensed online pharmacies, which have prescribing powers, but it typically costs around £200 a month.
Weight loss drugs designed as a treatment for Type 2 diabetes, has exploded in popularity recently after being adopted by celebrities and politicians. However, some former users have warned people against taking the jabs because of the side-effects, which can include nausea and vomiting.
Under the new plans, pharmacists will also be encouraged to help obesity sufferers by offering them dietary counselling and lifestyle advice.
Treating obesity costs the NHS around £11 billion a year and rising, which Mr Streeting has warned risks making the health service 'unsustainable'. Rates have doubled since the 1990s, including amongst the young, with more than one in five children now obese by the time they leave primary school.
£215 million is wasted every year
The Health Secretary is leading a push to divert patients with less serious conditions away from GP surgeries and hospitals to alleviate pressure on the NHS.
High street pharmacies will have their role in delivering vaccination programmes and screening for risk of cardiovascular disease expanded.
National Pharmacy Association research, released on Sunday, found that six million hours of A&E time could be saved every year by redirecting people. It said 325,000 people attended a hospital in 2023-24 with a sore throat or cold, 18,000 with insect bites and 196,000 with urinary tract infections.
The NPA has estimated that £215 million is wasted every year treating patients in A&E when they could have attended a pharmacy instead.
Ministers also plan to roll out the introduction of medicine-dispensing robots in high streets to free up pharmacists to spend more time with patients. Such robots are used in Singapore, which Mr Streeting visited last year on a fact-finding mission about the use of technology in health services.
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