Warwick Business School joins £85 million drive to reshape UK obesity care

Academics from Warwick Business School are part of an interdisciplinary, multi-organisational team from Coventry and Warwickshire awarded £8 million in funding as part of an £85 million national initiative aimed at transforming how obesity is treated across the UK.

The UK Government estimates almost one third of adults in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, and one in four in Wales live with obesity.

It is estimated to cost UK society up to £107 billion per year, including costing the country’s National Health Service (NHS) more than £9 billion per year.

The Obesity Pathway Innovation Programme (OPIP), backed by up to £50 million of Government funding and as much as £35 million from pharmaceutical group Eli Lilly, will support 12 projects across the UK.

The schemes will test digital tools, artificial intelligence, community-based services and new clinical pathways designed to improve access to weight-management support.

The OPIP is designed to simplify access to a range of weight loss interventions including lifestyle wraparound services such as nutritionists, psychologists, social prescribing, and, where clinically appropriate, pharmaceutical obesity treatments.

Ten-Year Plan for the NHS

Delivered by Innovate UK, the OPIP directly supports the UK Government’s Ten-Year Plan for the NHS, which sets out to make the NHS fit for the future by moving from analogue to digital systems, focusing on care within communities, and moving from sickness to prevention.

Graeme Currie, Professor of Public Management, is leading the evaluation of OPIP, with the support from Emily Rowe, a postdoctoral researcher at WBS, and Jason Madan, of Warwick Medical School. 

“We will develop insight and recommendations for the implementation of OPIP in real time,” said Professor Currie.

“Obesity is one of the most significant public health challenges facing the UK. What makes this programme distinctive is its focus on creating more accessible, integrated pathways of care that meet people where they are, rather than expecting patients to navigate complex healthcare systems.

“It will generate valuable evidence for policymakers and NHS leaders seeking sustainable approaches to prevention and treatment. The lessons learned here have the potential to inform obesity care nationally.”

The initiative will help patients get the care they need more quickly, by using measures like AI-assisted triage for self-referrals to automatically match people to the right type of care, creating apps to provide advice at patients’ fingertips, community pharmacies to bring care closer to home and – where clinically appropriate – obesity treatments for eligible patients.

OPIP projects will use a wide range of different methods to reach their communities, but all of them will make care easier to access. In Kent, AI powered, clinician-reviewed advice will be provided via WhatsApp in answer to patient queries for up to 3,300 early years families, offering advice on healthy eating, physical activity, sleep, and stress management when it matters most.

Elsewhere, in Leicester and Northamptonshire, black and south Asian communities are less likely to access obesity support when they need it. The Coventry and Warwickshire project will look to address this by bringing care to communities by creating neighbourhood hubs linking GPs, pharmacies, schools and community organisations. This will make services easier to access.  

As the projects run through to 2029, WBS researchers will examine not only clinical outcomes but also how new models of care can be implemented at scale across the NHS.

Professor Currie added: “If successful, the programme could provide a blueprint for a more digitally enabled, community-focused approach to obesity care and offer policymakers new tools in the fight against one of the UK's most persistent health challenges.”

Graeme Currie is Professor of Public Management. His research interests include leadership, innovation, and strategic change, with a particular focus on public service organisations in fields such as health and social care.

Discover more about healthcare and wellbeing. Receive our Core Insights newsletter via email or LinkedIn.