Weight loss jab clinics aim to help dieters keep the pounds off in nationwide trial

Weight loss jab clinics aim to help dieters keep the pounds off in nationwide trial A nationwide trial will investigate whether specialist community-based NHS support hubs can help users of jabs like Wegovy and Mounjaro keep the weight off A national trial is being launched to help people on appetite-suppressing jabs keep the weight off. Weight loss injections have become a global phenomenon and are taken by over two million Brits, but there are major concerns about weight regain. Research shows if people stop taking the weekly jabs they tend to put all the fat back on - but never regain muscle and bone mass lost. Now patients will be enrolled from 94 GP surgeries across the country to see whether specialist fat jab clinics can successfully help people keep the weight off. Counselling and support is vital so people make the drastic diet and lifestyle changes for sustained weight loss. Lack of NHS capacity to provide this support is the main reason the drugs are being rationed and most users have to buy them privately. The NHS will assess whether the community-based NHS support hubs are a cost effective solution to help it prescribe weight loss drugs. Users will attend regular consultations to assess their nutritional health, physical function, participation in work and general wellbeing. Lead researcher Dr Helen Parretti, from the University of East Anglia (UEA), said: “What we are proposing is a new model of care centred on community-based support clinics. “Weekly injectable obesity management medications have surged in popularity with more than two million people in the UK now using them. "But people who have these treatments can regain weight, have mental health problems or develop nutritional deficiencies, all of which can impact their health – if they do not receive long-term follow-up care.” Prescribing data shows 2.4 million Brits use the powerful drugs which suppress appetite and polling suggests a further 8% of the population are considering using them. They mimic a hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) which regulates hunger and feelings of fullness and are now available in tablet form. The rollout of Mounjaro was announced with much fanfare in 2024 but an investigation by the British Medical Journal a year later revealed how the jabs were being rationed and only a few hundred thousand people getting them on the NHS. Some 3.4 million people are technically eligible for the jabs but the NHS planned a phased rollout over a 12-year period. It means the vast majority of people on weight loss jabs and pills are getting them via expensive private prescriptions. Some unlicensed online sellers do not provide accompanying lifestyle support. The new trial funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) could provide a way for the NHS to provide this support at scale so it can prescribe the drugs to millions more people. Prof Olivia Wu, NIHR programme director, said: "Weight-loss surgery and injections can be life-changing for people living with obesity, but they need to be backed by ongoing care, so people can maintain their weight loss and stay healthier for longer.” The randomised controlled trial will start in 2028 with 1,000 participants to see whether the hub helps better support people to maintain weight loss after 12 months. Dr Parretti added: “These hubs would be run by specially trained primary care professionals, backed by specialist weight-management teams. Patients will receive regular reviews, monitoring of blood tests, nutritional checks and personalised self-care support.” A previous study by Oxford University established that people generally pile the pounds back on within a year of stopping weight loss jabs. The review of 11 studies involving 6,370 adults found users typically lost 8kg - but returned to their original weight within 10 months of stopping. It suggested that many users need to be on the powerful drugs for life. Many patients give up the treatment either because they can no longer afford the private prescriptions, because they decide the side effects such as vomiting are too much, or they are not losing weight anymore. Separate research by the University of Copenhagen showed almost a third of pounds shed from weight loss jabs is actually muscle and bone density. If people stop taking GLP-1 drugs they pile the fat back on - but the muscle and bone mass is lost for good. This makes it much harder to lose weight again because there is less muscle to burn calories. It also increases the chances of osteoporosis and frailty in old age. The new trial will be led by UEA in collaboration with Cambridge, Birmingham, Bristol, Sheffield and Leeds Beckett universities.