London NHS Trusts among the highest prescribers of weight loss jabs
The online pharmacy Click Pharmacy have conducted new research to find out which NHS ICBs around England prescribe the highest amounts of weight loss jabs. NHS Central London, NHS North East London and NHS North West London are all in the top ten biggest prescribers.
As well as helping people drop as much as 10% of their body weight, semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy) has also recently been highlighted as a drug that could help slow down ageing and even cut the risk of cancer.
Click Pharmacy used official statistics to reveal which regions prescribe the most semaglutide, liraglutide and tirzepeptide, three drugs which are taken for both weight management and diabetes. The pharmacy looked at the number of prescriptions in the month of June this year.
These drugs are all GLP-1 receptor agonists, which means they work in the same way as each other to make patients digest more slowly and feel less hungry, lowering their blood sugar.
People who take liraglutide (available under the name Saxenda) can lose 5% of their body weight. However, tirzepeptide – which is available under the name Mounjaro for both diabetes and weight loss – has shown even more dramatic results in studies, with patients dropping as much as 15%.
The NHS Trust that prescribed the most of these drugs was NHS Kent and Medway, with 6,326 combined prescriptions made out.
NHS North Central London, NHS North East London and NHS North West London were in fifth, sixth and seventh places. NHS North Central London doctors made out 4,528 prescriptions for these drugs this June, followed by NHS North East London where there were 3,557 prescriptions made out. In NHS North West London, there were 3,498 prescriptions for GLP-1 medicines this June.