Anti-Obesity Medications (AOM)

Information

Drug treatment has now been approved by NHS Scotland to assist diet and exercise weight loss methods for patients under the care of the weight management service.

Liraglutide (Saxenda®)

This medication has been approved for use in NHS Scotland and is on the NHS Lothian list of approved prescription medicines. See under Referral guidelines for who is eligible for this medication.

However, due to global GLP1 shortages we are unable to initiate new prescriptions at present until supply is restored (likely mid 2024). We still welcome referrals of eligible patients who can be added to the waiting list until supply is restored.

Other weightloss injections are available but not yet added to the NHS Lothian prescription list. See our website for the latest updates regarding this. Anti-obesity medications (AOM)-Adult Weight Management and Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Service (nhslothian.scot)

Contact details for the weight management service:

Email: weight.management@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk
Phone: 0131 537 9169
Woodlands House
Astley Ainslie Hospital
74 Canaan Lane
Edinburgh
EH9 2TB

D.R.M. & S.W. 12-02-24

Who can refer:

Anyone can refer to the weight management service. We also accept self-referrals. Forms can be downloaded from the following link: AdultWeightManagementService-Referral-Form.docx

Who to refer:

Patients that meet the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) criteria can be referred for consideration of Anti-obesity medications (AOM) ie:

Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than or equal to 35kg/m2

With:

Non-diabetic hyperglycaemia (prediabetes) at high risk of type 2 diabetes. This is defined as having either:
- Fasting plasma glucose level of 5.5 to 6.9mmol/L or
- HbA1c of 42 to 47mmol/mol

And a

High risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) defined as:
- Total cholesterol greater than 5mmol/L, or
- High-density lipoprotein (HDL) less than 1.0mmol/L for men and less than 1.3mmol/L for women, or
- Systolic blood pressure (SBP) greater than 140mmHg

Who not to refer:

Patients who do not meet the above SMC criteria will not be considered for anti-obesity medications (AOM) . Patients can still be referred to the Weight Management Service for the usual assessment and support. Referral criteria can be found here. Weight Management Service Adult – RefHelp (nhslothian.scot)

How to refer:

For Adult Weight Management Service all referrals come via the same SCI Gateway pathway:

AHP – Dietetics >> Weight Management >> LI Weight Mx – T2DM Remission

Patients can self refer using the following form Weight-Management-Service-Self-Referral-Form-v2

General Practitioners and primary care non-medical prescribers are responsible for the following;

Prescribing of GLP-1 therapy in conjunction with the specialist service after the initial 16 weeks.
Although monitoring is routinely carried out by the specialist team during clinic visits, the GP would be required to carry out annual reviews for any associated conditions.
Patients should be prescribed the Saxenda® brand of liraglutide.