In association with
An on-demand version of this webinar is available.
With obesity now affecting more than one in four people in England, and high profile new weight loss drugs being approved, demand for weight management services is escalating. At the same time, the costs of treating obesity and linked conditions including type 2 diabetes is growing dramatically.
Ensuring demand is met with effective treatments is complicated, because obesity itself is complicated. Carrying excess weight is associated with a range of social determinants (among them deprivation, disability, ethnicity) and often has complex links with mental ill health.
While new treatments are rightly generating interest and optimism, as ever there is a need to ensure that resources are used as effectively and fairly as possible – that the right support is given to the right person at the right time. At present, there is an inconsistency in services available and limited data to support commissioners in making decisions. And where services have been commissioned it can be difficult for commissioners to assess the true return on investment.
So how can the NHS get weight management services right? What does capacity look like currently? Where are the challenges? How can organisations ensure those living with excess weight have access to appropriate levels of care which address the multiple facets of obesity? How do issues of health inequalities need to be addressed? How are people living with obesity currently experiencing and accessing services? How should we measure value in weight management services? Who should commission weight management services in the new integrated care system structure and how do we make the most of integration at the system level?
This HSJ webinar, run in association with Oviva, brought together a panel of experts to consider the answers to such questions.
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Speakers
Thomas Barber, associate professor and honorary consultant endocrinologist, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Trust
Thomas Barber has been employed as an associate professor and honorary consultant endocrinologist at University of Warwick and University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire Trust since 2010. As scientific lead for the Human Metabolism Research Unit, his current research interests include the impact of human metabolism on the development of obesity, and novel strategies to prevent and manage obesity and diabetes mellitus within the populace. As clinical lead for the obesity service at UHCW, Dr Barber combines clinical duties with clinical and translational research. His recent research on mindfulness application in obesity management in a tier 3 obesity service, published in Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, received international media interest.
Tracey Carr, patient advocate
Tracey Carr is a leading advocate for the better care and understanding of larger patients. Her enthusiasm and honesty, along with her willingness to share her personal experience of navigating life as a person of size, make her an engaging and thought-provoking speaker.
Tracey works as a consultant to a number of leading healthcare companies. She has developed seminars on maintaining dignity of care for the supersized, which she has delivered at a wide range of hospitals and clinical training establishments across Europe, the US and most recently in Australia and New Zealand.
In addition, Tracey works as part of a team delivering training in the moving and handling of plus sized patients. She also advises a number of leading companies during the research and development stages of bariatric product manufacturing processes.
Claire Griffiths, reader of obesity, Leeds Beckett University Obesity Institute
Claire Griffiths is a reader of obesity within the Obesity Institute at Leeds Beckett University. She is the lead for the institute’s systems approaches theme, and works across the weight management and health disparities themes. Her research interests are in understanding the complexity of obesity from a transdisciplinary perspective, working with all stakeholders – including people with lived experience – to co-produce, implement and evaluate a framework for addressing obesity.
Lucy Jones, head of dietetics and vice president clinical, Oviva
Lucy Jones is an award-winning dietitian, VP clinical and head of dietetics at Oviva. She is well known for trialling innovative approaches to care and has created the UK’s first evidence-based 100 per cent remote Type 2 diabetes remission programme.
She is an experienced dietitian and specialises in managing obesity and metabolic syndrome. She completed a master’s in clinical research with the University of Manchester, and undertook significant postgraduate training in behaviour change to support patients with effective lifestyle changes.
As a media spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, she regularly appears on television, radio and written press providing expert comment on nutrition. In 2013, she was named BDA’s Media Spokesperson of the Year and Nutrition and Health’s Nutrition Writer and Broadcaster of the Year.
Claire Read, chair, HSJ
Claire Read is a professional writer and editor who has specialised in healthcare throughout her 20-year career. She has been a regular contributor to HSJ since 2012 and has a particular interest in healthcare digitisation and technology.
