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The British government is introducing several bonus options for doctors in an attempt to combat the increasing obesity among the population.
General practitioners' offices in England would receive an average of £3,000 (the equivalent of nearly €3,500) a year in bonuses for prescribing weight-loss drugs to patients, writes the BBC. The measure would come into effect in over two months.
According to the source, GPs will also receive extra money – worth around £1,000 a year – for referring patients to weight loss programmes.
The incentive payments will only apply to the drug Mounjaro, produced by the American company Eli Lilly, and this is because only this drug can be prescribed by general practitioners. The other drug, Wegovy, is not prescribed by GPs but is administered by specialist NHS weight loss services.
However, British obesity experts believe that the financial incentive program for doctors will have limited impact, as the drugs are still strictly restricted within the NHS (UK National Health Service) – and this measure will do nothing to expand eligibility.
It is estimated that over 1 million people use diet pills in the UK, but not just Mounjaro, but Wegovy too.
Bonuses are a normal part of a GP's contract and have in the past been paid for a range of other things, from improving care for people with dementia to increasing vaccination rates and prescribing statins to reduce the risk of heart disease.
