At the National Diabetes UK Conference in London the Department of Health announced a new programme under which overweight NHS staffers will be provided free Slimming World classes.
The scheme is a part of NHS’ “practise what we preach” drive and staff members will be eligible for one of three weight-loss programmes depending on the amount of weight they need to lose.
“Today the NHS is starting to practice what we preach – helping our own staff get healthier and prevent illness”, said NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens while announcing the initiative at the National Diabetes UK conference. “The ‘h’ in NHS stands for health, and that’s going to require a far bigger emphasis on prevention.”
The scheme will initially run as a pilot programme at the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London. The three different weight-loss programmes involve a range of approaches including personal eating plans and cognitive behavioural therapy aiming to reassess the patient’s relationship with food.
Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Public Health England, describes this initiative as a comprehensive package as against a weight-loss service. Selbie added that by rolling out a service that is tailored to the needs of NHS staff, they are showing the nation that they are serious about tackling obesity and preventing life-threatening diseases.
According to a recent estimate by the Department of Health, as many as 700,000 NHS England staffers out of 1.3 million currently struggle with weight issues. If the Slimming World programme is successful, it could be rolled out to cover all overweight NHS staff members.
