Medical Weight ManagementA plan built around you.

Biology, health and circumstances matter more than blame.

Weight is influenced by many overlapping factors: genetics, metabolism, hormones, health conditions, some medicines, sleep, mental health, eating patterns and environment. Willpower does not explain that complexity, and judgement does not improve it.^[3]

A clinical assessment looks for the pattern rather than assuming one cause. The point is to choose a response that fits your health and the life you are actually living.

Sometimes another health question comes first.

Some health conditions and some medicines can contribute to weight gain or make change harder. The assessment reviews relevant history and current medicines so that a weight-management plan is not layered blindly over something that needs attention elsewhere.

If another clinical assessment appears more appropriate, I explain that rather than treating this pathway as the answer to every cause of weight change.

A useful measurement, not a verdict.

BMI is a useful starting point, but it does not distinguish muscle from body fat. Someone with a high muscle mass can have a raised BMI without excess body fat.^[3] Where relevant, your waist measurement adds context alongside your health history and the wider clinical picture.^[1]

Specific treatment options have their own eligibility criteria, which may include BMI. Meeting those criteria is one part of deciding whether an option is appropriate for you. Metabolic markers, blood pressure, health conditions and how you actually function all add to the picture.

Sixty minutes to understand the picture before choosing a direction.

The Initial Medical Weight Management Assessment considers:

• how your weight has changed over time;
• previous approaches, what helped and what was difficult to sustain;
• relevant health conditions and family history;
• current medicines, allergies and previous adverse effects;
• eating patterns, appetite, sleep, alcohol and activity;
• mental health and your relationship with food;
• your priorities and what meaningful improvement would look like; and
• whether further information or another clinical route should come first.

The assessment is more than a weigh-in and it is not a test of whether you “deserve” treatment. The assessment also makes space for how weight has been discussed with you before, including any experience of judgement and the words you prefer me to use.

If being weighed or measured worries you, please tell me before the appointment.

From the first assessment to a review of progress.

1. Initial Medical Weight Management Assessment — 60 minutes / £50. Your weight history, health, medicines, previous approaches, priorities and suitability are considered.
2. Written clinical summary. You receive the clinical decision and agreed next steps in writing. If prescribing is appropriate, the treatment, monitoring and review plan are included.
3. Private prescribing discussion, only if relevant. No medicine is selected from the webpage and no prescription is guaranteed.
4. Weight Management Review — 30 minutes / £50. Response, weight/BMI, tolerability and relevant health or medicine changes are reviewed.
5. Continue, change, pause or stop. Ongoing care proceeds only when the balance remains clinically appropriate.

No. The £50 pays for the assessment and recommendation, whether or not prescribing is appropriate. Medicine costs are separate.

Less intake still has to support health.

Weight change should not be judged only by how little a person can eat. Protein, fibre, fluids and an adequate range of nutrients remain important while intake changes.^[1]

The assessment considers how nutrition relates to your plan, but this service is not presented as specialist dietetic care. Where more detailed nutritional support is needed, another appropriately qualified service may be the better route.

The scale is not the only measure that matters.

Activity can support health, function and wellbeing independently of the number on the scale. Weight loss can also include loss of lean tissue, which is one reason a plan should consider function, nutrition, strength and tolerability rather than chasing the fastest possible change.^[1]

The appropriate level and type of activity depend on your health and starting point. This service does not promise a specialist exercise programme.

Asked with care, because they affect safety.

Mood, stress, previous experiences and a person’s relationship with food can be relevant to both suitability and the kind of support that is appropriate. These questions are asked without judgement.

If an eating disorder or another mental-health concern needs specialist care, that may be the right place to start. Your relationship with food matters in its own right, not only because it affects which treatment is suitable.

If you are worried about your eating, speak to your GP. The UK charity Beat also provides information about seeking help and preparing for that conversation.^[5]

Important information before any treatment decision.

Tell me if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, planning pregnancy or think pregnancy may be possible. This information can change whether an option is appropriate and what advice is needed.

Some options have specific requirements around pregnancy and contraception. These are discussed privately and individually. A general webpage should not be used to make a personal stopping, starting or contraception decision.

One possible tool inside a monitored plan.

If a medicine may be appropriate, I explain why, how it is monitored, its specific risks and precautions, what changes to report and its individually confirmed cost.

The decision can still be not to prescribe. The assessment does not commit you to a particular medicine.

No. If a medicine may fit your needs, I explain it privately after assessment, including benefits, risks, monitoring and cost.

Progress means more than a number on the scale.

No particular weekly rate, final weight or permanent result can be guaranteed. The rate and degree of change vary between people. A real outcome can be smaller, larger or absent, and tolerability can limit what is reasonable.

Even a modest weight loss can improve blood-sugar control or blood pressure, depending on your starting point.^[9][10] The changes that matter most depend on your health and what you want help with. Progress is assessed through those priorities as well as your weight.

There is no guaranteed weekly rate. I judge progress against the aim we agree and whether change is safe, tolerable and meaningful for you.

Not necessarily. A review of behavioural weight-management programmes found that some improvements in blood pressure, blood-sugar measures and cholesterol could remain after programmes ended. Some benefits diminished with weight regain, but the pattern differed between measures and analyses. This was not a study of stopping weight-management medicines, and it cannot predict your individual outcome.^[4]

The relevant risk profile depends on the option and the person.

Different prescription options do not share one identical risk profile. Combining them into one list would be misleading.

If a medicine is considered, its expected effects, important risks, precautions and the symptoms that should prompt urgent help are discussed individually. Ongoing review checks whether the benefit still justifies side effects and burden. Care can be changed, paused or stopped when continuing is not appropriate.

Another route may be more appropriate if a health condition needs assessment first, specialist mental-health or eating-disorder support is needed, pregnancy or reproductive planning affects the decision, or safe monitoring is not possible. This service also cannot offer a guaranteed or very rapid result.

Depending on your needs, the next step may be NHS weight-management support through your GP, assessment of a possible contributor to weight gain, specialist dietetic or psychological support, a specialist medical or surgical service, or supported change without medicine. You can also decide not to proceed or return to the decision later.

No. Supported change without medicine, NHS care or specialist support may be more suitable. Read the other routes.

You can take time to decide or choose not to continue. The assessment does not oblige you to have treatment.

You can contact me between appointments. Questions about your treatment plan are best discussed face to face, so there is time to go through them properly.

The £50 booking payment is deducted from your treatment bill. It is retained if you do not attend your appointment.

Yes. Review can lead to continuing, adapting, pausing or stopping care, according to your response and health.

The clinical fee and medicine cost are separate decisions.

Medicine cost cannot be quoted as one public figure because it depends on the individual prescription. It is confirmed individually if prescribing is clinically appropriate.

A pharmacy dispenses and delivers any prescribed medicine. odNOVA does not physically supply it. Read the fee and pharmacy arrangement.