{"id":119738,"date":"2025-05-21T12:10:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-21T12:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/119738\/"},"modified":"2025-05-21T12:10:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T12:10:10","slug":"first-obesity-management-service-announced-for-northern-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/119738\/","title":{"rendered":"First obesity management service announced for Northern Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"

Due to start in early 2026, it will be the first dedicated service of its kind in the region. <\/p>\n

The first phase of the new service will take a community-based approach, offering lifestyle support and where appropriate, obesity medication. <\/p>\n

Currently patients don\u2019t have access to specialist weight management services, including weight loss injections and medications. <\/p>\n

The Department of Health said \u201crollout will be carefully managed in a phased manner to ensure that treatment is provided in a safe and effective manner.\u201d <\/p>\n

Additional phases of the Regional Obesity Management Service (ROMS), including other interventions such as weight loss surgery, are planned subject to funding.<\/p>\n

\"Health<\/p>\n

Health Minister Mike Nesbitt has given the go-ahead for a new Regional Obesity Management Service for Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n

News Catch Up – Wednesday 21 May <\/p>\n

Announcing the new service, Mr Nesbitt said it \u201cis a very significant step forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201dI have many competing demands on a seriously overstretched budget but I was determined to prioritise this area. <\/p>\n

\u201cObesity is a significant public health issue in Northern Ireland, with 65% of adults and 26% of children living with obesity or overweight.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose living with being overweight or obese are at a higher risk of a range of major health conditions including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I have repeatedly emphasised, my ambition is to shift our health\u2019s service focus from treating ill people to helping them stay healthy.\u201d <\/p>\n

Mr Nesbitt said tackling health inequalities is one of his key priorities in office, adding that obesity continues to be more common in the most disadvantaged communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cEstablishing a Regional Obesity Management Service will also bring us into line with other parts of the UK,\u201d said the UUP leader.<\/p>\n

“It will be a phased introduction and will take time and sustained investment to be fully established.<\/p>\n

“Implementation will be taken forward in a carefully managed way to ensure that it operates effectively, with patient numbers building up gradually.” <\/p>\n

A public consultation launched by the Department of Health in November 2023, received just under 19,000 responses, the majority of which supported the introduction of the service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Due to start in early 2026, it will be the first dedicated service of its kind in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5011],"tags":[34912,1144,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-119738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-northern-ireland","8":"tag-department-of-health","9":"tag-northern-ireland","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114545755730215471","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}