Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an estimate of the workforce required to support the safe delivery of NHS weight loss medication services, including the management of nutritional complications.

NHS England undertook workforce modelling to support the implementation of tirzepatide, brand name Mounjaro, for obesity management as part of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s Funding Variation planning process.

The modelling considered requirements associated with the phased introduction of the treatment, including clinical assessment, prescribing, monitoring, medicines review, behavioural support, and programme management functions. It assumes that nutritional assessment, dietary advice, and ongoing clinical monitoring are delivered through prescribing clinicians and multidisciplinary teams, with input from appropriately trained healthcare professionals operating within established specialist weight management and primary care pathways.