Portfolio Question Time – in the Scottish Parliament at on 10 September 2025.
Finlay Carson
Conservative
To ask the Scottish Government, in light of the United Kingdom Government’s recently announced funding to test new ways to tackle obesity and the reported limited access to weight management treatments across Scotland, what steps it is taking to ensure that people in rural areas, such as Dumfries and Galloway, can access new weight loss treatments, including through innovative models such as pharmacist-led pilot schemes in general practitioner practices. (S6O-04912)
Jenni Minto
Scottish National Party
We know that we need a whole-system approach to tackling obesity, with new treatments as part of a package of interventions that include prevention through making our food environment healthier. The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland issued a national consensus statement in September 2024 that recommended the introduction of obesity medications in a phased manner across national health service boards, so that people who are in greatest clinical need benefit first.
I welcome the UK-wide obesity pathway innovation programme funding competition, with up to £10 million ring fenced for devolved nations. Officials are working with all health boards, including NHS Dumfries and Galloway, and innovation leads to support development of bids that expand access to a range of weight management treatments across Scotland, which could include community pharmacy.
We are also working collaboratively on the development and subsequent implementation of a quality prescribing guide for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease, including a section on treating obesity.
Finlay Carson
Conservative
Obesity remains one of the most pressing public health challenges that we face, and access to effective treatments is vital if we are to improve outcomes and reduce long-term pressures on our NHS. However, I continue to hear from constituents in Dumfries and Galloway that access to the new medication is extremely limited. In a recent response, NHS Dumfries and Galloway stated that it had not even undertaken a cost benefit analysis of the use of the new drugs, so how can we ensure that such treatments are patient centred?
Jenni Minto
Scottish National Party
I thank Finlay Carson for his follow-up question, and I recognise how much I appreciated visiting a community-led pharmacy in Newton Stewart, in his Constituency, in the summer.
I recognise that we have to ensure that all boards have pathways to ensure that people who need obesity-reducing drugs can have them. We have been speaking directly with NHS Dumfries and Galloway, alongside other health boards that are considering how to implement such pathways, but we have so far been unable to reach an internal agreement on how to progress that through services, finance and primary care. However, I am happy to follow that up with Finlay Carson.
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