- General practitioners are still not prescribing weight-loss injections, eight months after the NHS began its mass rollout, leading to unequal patient access.
- The Department of Health and Social Care confirmed that not all practices prescribe these drugs, with leading GPs having previously raised concerns about increased workload.
- The government has introduced new financial incentives, backed by £25 million, to encourage family doctors to prescribe the medications and refer eligible patients to weight management services.
- Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting stated that the incentives aim to ensure access is based on need, not ability to pay and to combat dangerous unlicensed drugs.
- An estimated 2.4 million people in the UK are taking weight-loss drugs, mostly privately, while the NHS has a phased rollout for severely obese patients with other health issues.
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