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Can I get Mounjaro on the NHS?

GLP Guidebook teamUpdated 12 Oct 202613 sourcesWritten from published sources
The short answer

Yes, for some adults, and the rules differ by nation. In England, from around June 2026, GPs can offer Mounjaro (tirzepatide) for weight to adults with a BMI of 35 or more and 4 of 5 named conditions. Some ethnic groups have lower BMI thresholds. Scotland and Wales mostly use specialist services.

Before you go further

Who can get Mounjaro on the NHS in England?

NICE guidance lets the NHS in England offer Mounjaro in phases, starting with people who have the highest BMI and the most weight-related conditions.

The 5 conditions are high blood pressure, abnormal blood fats (dyslipidaemia), obstructive sleep apnoea, heart disease (cardiovascular disease) and type 2 diabetes. NICE describes 3 groups:2

  • From 23 June 2025: a BMI of 40 or more and at least 4 of the 5 conditions.3,2
  • From around June 2026: a BMI of 35 to 39.9 and at least 4 conditions.2
  • From around March 2027: a BMI of 40 or more and 3 conditions.2

For people from South Asian, Chinese, other Asian, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean backgrounds, each BMI is 2.5 lower, so 37.5 instead of 40.2 NICE expects at least 220,000 people to be eligible for NHS-funded treatment in the first 3 years. It estimates 3.4 million people meet its wider criteria.4

Could a GLP‑1 be an option?

Questions to take to your GP. It doesn't decide for you.

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How do you get Mounjaro from the NHS in England?

You usually wait to be contacted, and one NHS area asks people not to book GP appointments about Mounjaro unless they are invited.

Integrated care boards (ICBs) are the local NHS bodies that plan and pay for care. South West London's says people who can be offered it "will be contacted directly".5 Everyone prescribed it must take part in "wraparound" care, support with diet and activity. Without it, you can't be prescribed Mounjaro.5

Normal prescription charges apply, £9.90 an item in England, unless you get free prescriptions.5,6 If you already get it on a private prescription, the NHS can take over only if you meet its criteria.5 NICE sets a check after 6 months on your highest dose. If you have lost less than 5% of your starting weight, you and your prescriber decide whether to carry on.2

What about Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?

Each nation sets its own rules, and in October 2026 NHS access outside England ran mainly through specialist weight services or new regional programmes.

  • Scotland: the Scottish Medicines Consortium accepted Mounjaro in June 2024 for adults with a BMI of 30 or more and a weight-related condition.7 A September 2024 NHS Scotland statement said the first phase should be a BMI of 38 or more.8
  • Wales: for now, only specialist weight services should prescribe it, with exceptions such as urgent surgery, transplants or cancer.9,10
  • Northern Ireland: a new regional obesity service was due to start in early autumn 2026. Its first phase covers adults with a BMI above 45 and at least 1 listed condition.11

Prescriptions are free in all 3 nations; see Are weight-loss jabs free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? How doctors and prescribing work is in Guide 6.

RisksThe risks, in brief
  • Stomach effects are very common. In the weight trials on the UK Mounjaro label, 25 to 29 in 100 people on 5 mg to 15 mg felt sick (nausea), against 9 in 100 on a dummy injection.12
  • Gallstones are common (1 in 10 to 1 in 100) in the weight trials, and a swollen pancreas (acute pancreatitis) is uncommon (1 in 100 to 1 in 1,000), on the UK Mounjaro label. The MHRA strengthened the pancreatitis warning in January 2026.12,13
  • Pregnancy and the pill. The MHRA says to stop Mounjaro at least 1 month before trying for a baby. It can make the contraceptive pill less reliable for 4 weeks after starting and after each dose rise.1
  • Operations. Tell your anaesthetist you take it, because it slows how fast your stomach empties.1
Full detail in Guide 5: Side effects and risks →

Read the full picture

Related questions

What BMI do you need for Mounjaro in the UK? How much is Mounjaro in the UK? Are weight-loss jabs free in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? Can my GP prescribe Wegovy? Is it safe to buy Mounjaro online in the UK?
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Sources

  1. MHRA. GLP-1 medicines for weight loss and diabetes: what you need to know. Guidance, published 5 Jun 2025, last updated 5 Feb 2026. gov.uk
  2. NICE. Tirzepatide for managing overweight and obesity (TA1026), section 1, Recommendations and "What this means in practice". Published 23 Dec 2024, last updated 1 Sep 2025. nice.org.uk
  3. The Pharmaceutical Journal. UK's biggest online pharmacy freezes Mounjaro price amid reports of 'stockpiling', 18 Aug 2025 (Lilly and DHSC statements; list prices from 1 Sep 2025; previous prices "£92 to £122"; primary-care prescribing from 23 Jun 2025). Trade press. pharmaceutical-journal.com
  4. NICE. TA1026, section 4, Implementation: funding variation of up to 12 years; "around 220,000 patients" in the first 3 years; total eligible population "3.4 million people". nice.org.uk
  5. NHS South West London Integrated Care Board. Prescribing weight loss medications in south west London: tirzepatide (Mounjaro). Page updated 30 Jul 2026. southwestlondon.icb.nhs.uk
  6. NHS Business Services Authority. NHS Prescription Prepayment Certificate (PPC): "The prescription charge in England is £9.90"; PPC £32.05 for 3 months, £114.50 for 12 months. nhsbsa.nhs.uk
  7. Scottish Medicines Consortium. Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) SMC2653: "accepted for restricted use within NHSScotland"; restriction "adults with BMI ≥30 kg/m2* and at least one weight-related comorbidity" (*lower cut-off may be more appropriate for some minority ethnic groups). Advice published 10 Jun 2024. scottishmedicines.org.uk
  8. NHS Lanarkshire. Clinical protocol: Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) as an adjunct to lifestyle measures in weight management, approved Jan 2025: "An NHS Scotland consensus statement was published in September 2024. It stated that the first phase of implementation of the SMC guidance should be those with a BMI of ≥ 38 kg/m2 in the presence of at least one weight-related co-morbidity." rightdecisions.scot.nhs.uk (PDF)
  9. Welsh Government. New clinical pathway for treating and managing obesity (WHC/2025/043): "tirzepatide, semaglutide and liraglutide, for weight loss should only be prescribed through specialist weight management services in the NHS in Wales", with listed exceptions. First published 23 Oct 2025, last updated 7 Jul 2026. gov.wales
  10. Welsh Government. People waiting for time-sensitive surgery get weight loss drugs on NHS. Press release, 23 Oct 2025 (about 186,000 people in Wales potentially eligible). gov.wales
  11. Department of Health (Northern Ireland). Health Minister announces first phase of NI's first Obesity Management Service, 29 Jun 2026: rollout "expected… in early Autumn 2026"; phase one "for adults aged 18 and over with a BMI above 45 and at least one" listed condition. health-ni.gov.uk
  12. Eli Lilly. Mounjaro KwikPen summary of product characteristics (UK SmPC), date of revision 29 Aug 2026, sections 4.1, 4.2, 4.4, 4.5, 4.6 and 4.8 (Table 1). UK label. medicines.org.uk (emc)
  13. MHRA. MHRA updates guidance for GLP-1 prescribers and patients (acute pancreatitis). Press release, 29 Jan 2026. gov.uk

Last checked 12 Oct 2026 · Next review due 12 Apr 2027 · Report an error

How this answer was made. Written by the GLP Guidebook team from the sources above, all checked on 12 Oct 2026. Prices are official list prices or NHS charges, never a seller's price, and we don't name or rank sellers. Figures marked as our arithmetic are worked out from those sources. It's general information, not medical advice. Talk to a GP, pharmacist or other qualified prescriber before starting, stopping or changing any medicine. How we write