Specialist weight management

Current Service Delays

We have a considerable waiting list for access to this Service and apologise for any distress and frustration this wait may cause. The extensive backlog, which was initially caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, has been further impacted by staff shortages and an extreme increase in the number of referrals to our service.

In response to these challenges, we are doing all that we can to improve the situation for both our patients and our staff.

March 2025 waiting list statement

• We are currently contacting patients who were referred in February 2022

Weight Loss Medications Update

The new GLP-1 injectable weight loss medications e.g., Saxenda, Semaglutide/Wegovy have recently received much press attention. These medicines are currently not part of our service model, therefore SWMS is not in a position to provide these medicines as part of our treatment offer.

Once referral routes to a dedicated service have been agreed, these medications will be subject to locally agreed criteria and your GP will need to check that you meet these criteria prior to referral.

Referrals

Referrals primarily come from GPs but are also currently accepted from secondary care teams within our hospitals, such as the Diabetes, Sleep Clinic and Physiotherapy departments

SWMS Access Criteria

Aged >18 years

BMI >50kg/m2 or >40 kg/m2 with at least one agreed co-morbidity from list below:

• Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH)
• Essential surgery refused e.g. transplant, cancer treatment
• Sleep apnoea
• Diabetes and Pre-diabetes
• Hypertension (requiring treatment)
• Hyperlipidaemia (requiring treatment)
• Atrial Fibrillation
• Ischaemic Heart Disease
• PCOS
• Fertility problems
• NAFLD/NASH
• MSK or significant osteoarthritis, where surgery is refused due to BMI
• Other routine surgery or intervention refused due to BMI

About the service

The Specialist Weight Management Service (SWMS) is a small, multidisciplinary service for patients living with obesity and is provided by Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The service is psychologist-led and includes specialist dietitians who provide a high level of support for patients to promote and maintain weight loss in order to improve health and quality of life.

The team

Our small and friendly team is made up of:

• Specialist Psychologists
• Specialist Dietitians
• Specialist Nurse
• Clerical Support Staff
• Student Dietitians on clinical placement

Assessment Appointments

We currently see the majority of our patients in appointments via video or telephone calling; however, we also can see patients face to face if required.

• Once a referral has been accepted, patients are offered assessment appointments so that clinicians can understand their challenges with weight.
• Once the information is collected, the clinicians can see if now is a good time for treatment, or if other steps need to be taken first.
• If the clinicians feel that our service is not a good fit for your needs, recommendations will made to your GP about what else might help your weight.

Treatment

• Most people will be offered our standard pathway, which is a weight management group delivered online.
• Appointments in group treatments run fortnightly and typically last 1hr 45 mins, with a planned break.
• Our groups are small and friendly; we do not weigh you, we ask you to self-report your weight and we do not discuss your weight with others in the group.
• During treatment, we take a non-prescriptive approach (we won’t tell you what to do) and we don’t focus on the use of weighing scales as the only outcome measure; we look at other benefits of our treatment programmes e.g. quality of life, confidence, mobility, self-esteem, self-care

Contact Us

Our office hours are: 8am – 4pm, Monday – Friday (excluding bank holidays)

• You can email us at: ghn-tr.swms.team@nhs.net
• You can call us on: 0300 422 6174 (we have a voicemail service which is regularly monitored during working hours)

Emotional eating

Dr Gail Bohin talks about what the term 'emotional eating' and what this means

What our patients say about us

“My whole life has changed - I am more outgoing and confident. I am able to enjoy life to the full whereas before, I was just existing. Be open minded and listen and think about the advice and help given - enjoy the journey one step at a time; be strong - believe you can achieve.”

“I found the service to be valuable because it’s not so much about losing pounds or inches but changing attitudes that we have towards food. If these can be changed then the pounds take care of themselves.”

Weight Loss Surgery

If weight loss surgery (also known as bariatric surgery) is something you are considering, this will be discussed during your initial appointments. This will include eligibility, treatment pathways to surgery and behaviours required to be in place before surgery will be considered.

Visit our Bariatric Surgery pages for more information, including videos, on bariatric surgery here at Gloucestershire Hospitals.