Useless NHS Weight Management Service

[Picklypickles]

My GP made a referral to the NHS Weight Management Service for me back in the summer, I received 2 copies of the exact same letter from them, on the same day, saying I was on their waiting list, a couple of weeks after the referral was made. In late November I received another letter from the service requesting that I e-mail them to opt in to the service, which I did and received an automated response from them. At the start of December I received a text message from them saying I had not yet e-mailed them to opt-in and that if I did not do so before the date stated I would be discharged from their service. So I sent another e-mail and again received an automated response. I have now received a copy of a letter they have sent to my GP saying that I have not requested an initial assessment appointment with them and so they have discharged me!

What the hell?! I waited for months to hear from them, I've done what they've asked and have proof that I've done so and they've just fucked me over and lied to my GP, what a pile of shit! What am I supposed to do now then, just accept that clearly they unable to actually provide any kind of service and rather than being honest about that they've lied and blamed me for their own incompetence?

I've just googled Saxenda as not heard of it before. It's very expensive! Can you get it perscribed by the NHS as otherwise I wont be able to afford that on sickness benefits!

@Picklypickles

Fair enough but the NHS weight management advice is often pretty sketchy. Also I’m not sure cutting out meat is a great idea but each to their own.

Have you read the book “why we eat too much” by Andrew Jenkins? He’s an NHS consultant who performs weight loss surgery and whilst the title may not be applicable to you right now, it certainly describes people who have come to the end of the road and are still suffering from obesity. Some great strategies.

I actually feel much, much better not eating meat. I have a slow metabolism and was really struggling to digest meat, it's also supposed to better for people who have kidney disease. I was a vegetarian all through my teens and didn't start to eat meat until my early twenties, which coincidentally is when I started to get kidney problems and gain loads of weight, a connection I've only just considered in my 40's.

@Picklypickles

Fair enough but the book would still be a good start.

Thanks for the recommendation, it's got to be worth a try!

@Picklypickles

Its really good for people who have exhausted every single option. Plus he’s an NHS consultant working in weight management so he “gets it”.

Hi OP, congrats on your weight loss so far.

The system sounds ridiculously infuriating, but I have a genuine question. I'm not in UK so I was wondering what the weight management side of nhs do to assist people. You have already made a lot of healthy changes already, so what does this service offer over and above the changes you have already made?

Saxenda and Ozempic are becoming quite popular here, but they are very expensive. Mainly for diabetics but I see many non diabetic people are starting to use them too.

I have no idea exactly what they do to assist people and I guess I never will now!

@Picklypickles the weight loss clinic could potentially prescribe Saxenda or similar for you if you can show that you have tried everything else. I understand from my GP that Wegovy (similar to Ozempic weekly jab) May be available from June 2023 to be prescribed on NHS.

I have just started Saxenda (self funded after saving) in hopes that I can show it works for me and then my GP will prescribe. I’ve only done 2 days, but I already feel more positive as it works to level out hormones.

I have underactive thyroid ( removed in 2008) and was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia last year. I get exactly how you are feeling!

The service have made a mistake and owe you an apology, but my guess is it can easily be sorted out. The service I work for has an "opt in" mechanism and we always provide a phone number to call because not everyone is ok with text and email. Have they provided a phone number? If so I'm sure this can all be sorted out very quickly. Good luck with it.

I am so unsurprised to read this. I was referred to Derriford for treatment and received a letter telling me I’d been placed on a waiting list for an appointment because they didn’t have any appointments available. The next thing I received, about 9 months later, was a letter telling me that, as I’d not responded to their previous letter inviting me to contact them to book an appointment, they had discharged me and written to my GP to tell them too. Only, they hadn’t sent me anything since the initial ‘you’re on a waiting list’ letter which the secretary for the department of been referred to confirmed when I called and spoke to her to find out wtf was going on!! She blamed a ‘colleague’ choosing an incorrect option when sending out a letter and, instead of sending the invitation to book an appointment, she said they’d sent out the ‘you’ve ignored us so we’re discharging you from the service’ letter 🤬🤬

Funnily enough, I received a call the following week inviting me to make an appointment and was offered one the week after that!!

Ugh don't talk to me about Derriford Hospital, I've had so many issues with them over the years, losing my notes for 6 months when I needed kidney surgery, then referring me for a procedure that they knew would not work and I could not have! They've given me post-op pneumonia twice, lost all of my belongings after one operation and the ENT consultant wiped his hands of me after me expressing discomfort at having a camera shoved all the way up my nose! Awful bloody place.

There is a phone number on the letter, I would have phoned them but my landline was on the blink for 2 weeks as we couldn't get an engineer out to fix it until the 29th of December! No mobile reception where I live and I have a pay-as-you go phone so I'd probably run out of credit sitting on hold for who knows how long like you always do with these things! Their stated preference was for me to e-mail though, which I did twice and within their time limits!

Just to let you know, Livewell is not part of the NHS. It is a private company that your local trust have had to commission to provide this service. Same shitshow in the areas that other well known private healthcare companies are commissioned. I won't name them for obvious reasons.

It's so infuriating, I remember not so long ago when the nurses at our local GP would do weight management clinics and support as well as smoking cessation and loads of other things, now we just get referred to these jokers for everything, may as well offer no help at all as that's what we're getting.

@Picklypickles
I agree. And I think people should be more aware of this and slate these private companies, most of which are absolutely awful, not 'the NHS'

It’s a dreadful place!!

We’re over the border but Derriford is so much closer to us than the alternative of Treliske!! I have an appointment for a steroid injection in my jaw next week - which I was put down as needing urgently on January 7th last year 😱😱

I’m actually quite worried about having it as the consultant was rather pessimistic about whether it would work and has already told
me surgery is the next step!!

We also have the issue that a gastro consultant diagnosed an issue a year ago yesterday, told
me if I lived the other side of the bridge, he’d have me in for surgery within 3 months - instead, I had to be referred to Treliske and finally had an appointment in mid October.

I hate the complexity that is hospital healthcare in this part of the country!!

P.S. Healthy Cornwall is no better!! They used to run a 12 week weight management/healthy lives course at a number of sites across the county; now it’s a 4 week online course run from 6-7.30pm on the same day of the week every time and, if you’re lucky, they’ll email you on the morning of the course starting to say you’re on that 4 week group - no daytime courses or alternatives days are available so, if it clashes with your job or family life (that time of day is a nightmare when you have 3 year old twins!), tough luck, you’ll be discharged from their programme for not engaging!!

@Picklypickles very hard to get on nhs I hear!

You can get it from boots and pay with Klarna if that helps

What is Klarna?

It sounds so annoying. You ask for help which takes a lot of courage and seem to get fobbed off! I'm sure if you show the emails that you did contact them then surely you'll be added.

I'm overweight myself, during my health check in August I asked my nurse if there was any weight loss programs on NHS. Was expecting a slimming world club but to my amazement I was told I was entitled to 12 weeks free gym membership.

Waited till November then was told although my BMI was over 30 and I lived in the area I didn't qualify as I didn't smoke/drink/take drugs or on universal credit. I was so annoyed about it all. My nurse was horrified when I updated her during my blood pressure check. To be fair she referred me again and my local gym is doing a new program for overweight people. I've recently started and have a PT who has helped me with a plan and showed me how to use the machines. She does circuit training x2 times a week for other people in the programme and I get weighed every 2 weeks. The idea is that going to the gym becomes a habit then you are more likely to join full time. I have to say I'm really enjoying it and lost 9lbs so far. It's classed as a prescription for 12 weeks, my husband who isn't overweight has been allowed to join for moral support 🙂 such a great idea. Hoping it will change my life. I'm a mum now and 32, want to get healthy for him. I've not looked after my body in my 20s at all.

Ozempic is bloody fabulous, however expensive, probably about £150/month, don't think you can get it on the NHS though

@Picklypickles - other than referring you to this weight management programme, what did your GP actually do? Give you a list of useful weight management techniques or websites? Discuss prescription drug therapy? Consider whether bariatric surgery might (not) be an option? If they have not done any of these, they have failed you and you should go back and ask whether these options could be suitable for you.

I would also insist that your other health-care needs, e.g. ingrown toenails, are addressed.

In the meantime, there are steps you can take, such as:
Work out how many calories you are typically consuming atm, how many you need to maintain your current weight, then deduct 500 to aim for a 1lb a week reduction.
Try intermittent fasting, e.g. 16:8
"Eat food, not too much - mostly plants", as the saying goes (plus some lean protein)

I appreciate that exercise will be difficult for you until you can get your feet sorted, but in the meantime you can try some floor based workouts, such as these:

If these look intimidating, just take it slow. Both these online trainers have lots of easy workouts. Lucy is particularly gentle (and less chatty than Rebecca...)

No, she didn't do any of those things. To be fair my weight wasn't the reason I saw my GP, it was pain in my feet and I acknowledged that my weight might have had something to do with the pain. I was referred to physio and she asked if I'd like referred to the weight management service. Thanks for the video links I will give them a watch.

2.5 stone is absolutely brilliant!! If you've managed that huge amount - and it is a huge amount no matter how much you still have to loose.... then l would look at Weight watchers or similar.

You have inspired me to restart my WW again