Pharmacists say they can start providing free weight loss jabs for the NHS

Pharmacists have said they are "ready and able" to provide people with free weight loss jabs for the .

The NHS is poised to announce a trial of prescribing the powerful drugs after a short consultation at a high street chemist. There are an estimated one and a half million Brits already taking the appetite-suppressing injections - which are currently available on the NHS via at specialist weight management clinics because of the intensive support users need.

Most are purchasing them privately for around £200 a month because the NHS has a waiting list of up to two years. Just one in 10 overweight people who are eligible are currently able to get the powerful drugs on the NHS.

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The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) expanding access would mean the drugs are not restricted to those who can afford to pay to get them privately.

NPA chair Olivier Picard said: "Pharmacies stand ready and able to deliver this service. Access to medicines that could cut damaging levels of obesity shouldn't be restricted to those who can pay or disadvantage deprived communities. We're yet to see the detail but this announcement has the potential to make sure that people who need these treatments the most could access them for free."

The Government announced this month that prescription charges are being frozen at £9.90 so people could get the jabs for less than a tenner. However nine in ten prescriptions dolled out in England are free due to exemptions. The jabs slow digestion and reduce appetite by mimicking the glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) hormone which regulates hunger and feelings of fullness. Known side effects include vomiting and constipation.

A Government spokesperson said: "As the Government shifts the NHS from sickness to prevention, we will be looking across the board at how these drugs can be made available to more people who can benefit from them. The NHS is already tackling obesity in innovative ways, including through community care models and digital technologies, to help deliver these drugs as part of a rounded package of care.”

Mounjaro, the brand name of tirzepatide, will reportedly be offered at NHS community pharmacies in deprived areas of the country under the trial, with a view to wider rollout if successful. Previous clinical trials by US manufacturer Eli Lilly showed the jabs could help people shed a fifth of their body weight.

High demand means the health service has announced a phased rollout of Mounjaro after it was approved for obesity as well as type 2 diabetes. The NHS does not yet have the capacity for this to prescribe Mounjaro to everyone eligible so has started offering it to the most severely obese and unwell.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) had recommended the medication for 3.4 million people but last December it said it had to restrict the jabs to just 220,000 patients in the next three years.

The NHS will trial and gradually scale up online and community support services to enable rollout, as the drug can only be prescribed with weight management support from clinicians.

Mr Picard added: "Pharmacies are the most accessible part of the NHS, and there are many pharmacies in deprived areas despite recent challenges. Pharmacists are experts in medication and many have extensive experience delivering weight loss injections as part of a package of care including lifestyle advice. They are best placed to help roll this treatment out on the NHS, with the right funding support."

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has previously hailed weight loss injections as a possible way of getting people back to work and off benefits, saying: "The long-term benefits of these drugs could be monumental in our approach to tackling obesity."

However the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) this year ordered online pharmacies to stop prescribing them only after reading a patient questionnaire, and instead must verify whether a user is actually dangerously overweight. Users had reportedly lied about their weight on online pharmacy forms and submitted a photo of them in baggy clothes, before being able to collect a private prescription.

The guidance in February came after England’s top doctor Sir Stephen Powis warned the jabs should not be used just to get people “beach body ready” as they come with the risk of side effects. Trials have also shown that without sustained lifestyle changes users shed body fat and muscle, before putting the fat back on.

Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said: “Obesity is a chronic, relapsing condition with many causes. We welcome investment that helps people living with excess weight access much-needed support - but drugs alone are not the solution."

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends Mounjaro on the NHS as an option for patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 with at least one obesity-related condition. This is known as obesity class II where everyday movements are much more strenuous and the risk of secondary diseases is increased significantly. Anyone with a BMI over 30 is considered obese.

Prof Jason Halford, from the European Association for the Study of Obesity, told the Telegraph: "I welcome efforts to increase availability of these drugs, and pharmacies could play a part in that. But people need close monitoring, psychological support and advice on nutrition."

Jabs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro were originally approved just for Type 2 diabetes but are now approved on the NHS for people who are obese and have other health problems as a consequence. They became popular globally after celebrities including Sharon Osbourne, Elon Musk and even ex-PM boasted about buying them privately for weight loss. People who are not obese are buying them online and huge demand has led to global shortages.

Speaking to Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Picard admitted there are "stock issues" with GLP-1 receptor agonists, but added: "We are currently not seeing necessarily a stock problem. This week, I heard that there was as many of one and a half million people every month buying the weight loss medication privately. So there is stock in the system.

"There is an obesity crisis in the country. We know this. The weight loss jab will help many people, and I think the manufacturers will work with the NHS to make sure that the stock is available. We may well see a pilot to start first in an area, to see how that works and how that can be rolled out to the whole country. But overall, we think it's good news."