ICB public statement in response to launch of NICE TA on Tirzepatide

Posted on January 27th, 2025

The National Institute for Health and Care and Excellence (NICE) has published a Technology Appraisal for Tirzepatide for managing overweight and obesity (TA1026) on 23 December 2024.

This Technology Appraisal makes Tirzepatide available for weight management, under the brand name Mounjaro. Unlike previous weight management medication, this can be prescribed in Primary Care, however it still needs the same wrap around services as Wegovy (semaglutide), so that patients are supported to make the changes needed for the medication to be most effective.

Black Country ICB knows there are many patients eligible for this medication who would like to be able to access this as soon as possible.

However, this medication will be made available in phases over a number of years. We ask that you are patient with us whilst we wait for further communication from NHS England on how Mounjaro will be rolled out and establish the best way to do so to meet our system’s needs.

We also ask that you do not contact your GP surgery to try and obtain Mounjaro for weight loss just yet. GP practices are incredibly busy at this time of year and the additional resource required to manage enquiries will mean they have less time to offer patient appointments.

We have also asked our GPs not to prescribe Mounjaro for weight loss at this time, whilst we work with clinical colleagues to develop options for the new service, including the training and education needed for these medications to be safely prescribed. We are also working with a range of experts from across the Black Country to strengthen our specialist weight management service for patients with more complex needs, which will prescribe weight management medication in future.

The ICB website has the latest ICB policy and FAQs for weight management published by NHS England, which may give you more information.

We will continue to update our website to ensure that all our weight management information is in one place. Please check the website for the latest updates on weight management services rather than contacting your GP.