Updated January 2025

Anti-Obesity Medicines

Anti-Obesity Medicines

We are not currently accepting referrals for anti-obesity medicines until they have been approved onto the East Region prescription list. We don’t yet have a date for when this will be.

We apologise for the delay and thank you for your patience.  We are working hard to bring these medicines to NHS Lothian.

We will update our website once we are able to accept referrals into our service for anti-obesity medicines.

Please see further details below.

Wegovy® (semaglutide) & Mounjaro® (tirzepatide)

Wegovy® (semaglutide) & Mounjaro® (tirzepatide) have both been approved for use in NHS Scotland to support weight management for health reasons. However, these medications have yet to be added to the East Region prescription list; therefore we are unable to accept referrals for Wegovy® or Mounjaro at this time. We are working together with NHS Fife and NHS Borders to progress the addition of these medications to the East Region prescription list.

Once these medications are available you can find phase 1 criteria by clicking here

Liraglutide (Saxenda®)  

There continues to be an international supply issue with this medication.

Other Anti-Obesity Medicines

Please note that there are no other anti-obesity medications approved for the purpose of weight management in NHS Scotland at present. Oral agents have only been licensed and approved for the management of Type 2 Diabetes. We will continue to update our website as new medications are approved and become available.

You can find more information about our other programmes and referral forms on our web page

Adult Weight Management and Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Service – NHS Lothian | Our Services

Adult Weight Management and Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Team

Woodlands House, Astley Ainslie Hospital, 74 Canaan Lane, Edinburgh, EH9 2TB

E-mail: loth.weightmanagement@nhs.scot

Telephone: 0131 537 9169