Obesity pathway innovation programme announced
On 12th August 2025 the Government and Lilly announced a health innovation programme of up to £85m, to be delivered by Innovate UK, to demonstrate new weight management pathways in the community.
Through the programme, it is hoped that people living with obesity will be offered new types of holistic support to improve their health and help them manage their weight. These new approaches will test better, innovative ways to make it easier for people to get the care and services they need, including potentially via community pharmacies.
Bids will be invited from NHS organisations (Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in England), working in partnership with technology providers, primary care providers including community pharmacies and other stakeholders to pilot innovative care models for people living with obesity, outside of existing specialist weight management services.
As part of successful bids, eligible people living with obesity will be able to get access to NHS holistic weight management support through new routes like digital tools models, local community-based access and community pharmacies.
The competition officially opens on 8th September 2025 and closes on 19th November 2025.
LPCs will be exploring opportunities for involvement with ICBs and discussing potential collaborations on behalf of pharmacy owners, many of whom already have extensive experience of providing private weight management services.
Any pharmacy owner wanting to know more about the programme can register for one or both of the two Innovate UK online briefing events on 20th August from 10.00am – 11.00am (introductory briefing) and 10th September 10.00am – 11.30am (applicant competition briefing). Both events will be recorded.
