Tier 3 & 4 Weight Management Service - BNSSG - DRAFT

Overview

Patients must complete a Tier 2 Weight Management process before consideration of referral to Tier 3 & 4 Weight Management services unless BMI is 50 or over in which case direct referral to Tier 3 & 4 Service is allowed.

There are currently two providers of Tier 3 Weight Management Services commissioned in BNSSG, Oviva and North Bristol Trust.

NBT are the single provider of Tier 4 services.

Oviva

Oviva is one of the organisations recommended by NICE and offers a remote Tier 3 service. They remain open to new referrals and will continue to accept eligible patients however, due to an activity cap, they will likely begin growing a waiting list for the first appointment from July 2025.  All existing patients will continue to work through the service as normal. 

Before considering referral to Oviva please be aware that:

• The BNSSG criteria for the Tier 3 service also apply to referrals to Oviva (please note that there have been examples when Oviva have advised referral can be made outside of these criteria but these referrals will not be able to proceed). 
• The Oviva service will be aimed solely at patients on the medical pathway, not the surgical pathway – i.e. if the patient wants to access bariatric surgery, this is not an option for them.
• Support is provided via an App or on the telephone by Oviva so patients will need access to a device to engage with Oviva or use of a telephone.

Patients on the NBT T3 waiting list were offered the option to move across to Oviva via text message. In excess of 500 patients elected to transfer from NBT and these patients have now begun their course of treatment. This is no longer an option and NBT are unable to transfer any patients without the ICB's permission.

 Oviva Operational Issues - (update 14 July 2025)

There have been a number of operational issues with Oviva referrals which are addressed below.  

• The specific referral form for T3 services must be used, this is required as access to the service is subject to a commissioning policy
• Any referrals that are rejected by Oviva should include clear reasons, these should largely be linked to eligibility criteria set out in the ICB policy, however, a patient can also disclose something during enrolment with Oviva (such as purging behaviour of PHQ9 risk too high) that would also trigger a rejection. 
• Oviva telephone operators are not able to discuss rejection reasons over the telephone.  The best way to discuss a referral rejection is to email them at ovivauk.t3wm@nhs.net.  They aim is to respond within 72 hours but due to demand this isn’t always achieved, they are working to resolve this. 
• Letters will be copied to patients where they have a recorded email address.

NBT

North Bristol Trust have been recruiting to key posts in the service and are aiming to offer weight loss medication to existing patients in their service from July 2025.  The service remains closed to new referrals, but it is hoped it can begin the process of reopening over the coming months. 

The Weight Assessment and Management Service (WAMS) is a multi - disciplinary service for people with severe or complex obesity and is based at Southmead Hospital, Bristol.

WAMS is a specialist service with the goal of improving the health and well-being of morbidly obese adults through promoting life-long behaviour change. It is not simply an assessment for bariatric surgery and those referred for consideration of surgery should understand that in most cases this will not be appropriate without some preparation, focussing on regulating eating, portion sizes and emotional regulation. Generally, this takes 6-12 months in WAMS.

The WAMS team are supportive and non-judgemental and will take into account the individual's circumstances. The team includes:

• Consultant Physicians
• Counselling/Clinical Psychologists
• Assistant Psychologists
• Dietitians
• Programme co-ordinators

Referral - Oviva

Referrals must be made using the standard BNSSG Tier 3 weight management referral form (available as a template in EMIS) which can then be submitted via e-Referral. Referrals need to meet the criteria in the BNSSG Weight Management Criteria Based Access policy. and should be submitted via the Referral Service.

The Oviva service can be found on e-RS via:

• Name: Tier 3 Weight Management Service (medical) – Oviva
• Speciality: Endocrinology & Metabolic Medicine
• Clinic type: Not otherwise specified
• Organisation or site name: Oviva

Referral - NBT

The NBT Tier 3/4 weight management service remains closed to new referrals.

(Last updated 14/7/25)

Referral Criteria

There is a Weight Management Service (Tiers 3 and 4 - including Support and Obesity related Surgery) Criteria Based Access Policy which applies to all BNSSG patients.

In summary:

Patients must have a BMI of 40 or over (or 35 or over if co-morbidities)

Patients much have engaged with community weight services over a 2-year period (please provides dates they attended as evidence) and attended a Tier 2 Weight management service unless BMI is 50 or greater*

(Please see full policy for further information and exclusions).

*Patients with BMI of 50 or over can be referred directly without evidence of compliance with Tier 2 Weight Management.

What to do before referral

Patients must meet referral criteria.

Before referring patients must fulfil the criteria within the CBA policy (see link above).

Please note that patients who have had previous weight loss surgery will not meet criteria unless there are exceptional circumstances and individual funding will need to be obtained for these patients. Please see further details in Gastric Band section below.

Mandatory blood test results must be provided:

Full Blood Count                                     B12 and Folate

Urea and Electrolytes                             Thyroid Function Tests (TSH)

Liver Function Tests and FIB-4              Fasting Lipid Profile

Calcium and Vitamin D                          HbA1c

Fasting glucose (this is a new requirement)

The attached patient leaflet  should be given to patients if considering referral.

After referral the What can you do whilst you wait for your weight management appointment? leaflet may be helpful.

GLP-1 receptor agonists

Liraglutide (Saxenda) and Semaglutide (Wegovy) and , Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) are available via Specialist Weight Management Services (SWMS) for patients with a BMI >35* and criteria defined under NICE TA664  ,NICE TA875 and NICE TA1026..

Locally agreed pathways to access these treatments via SWMS are in place, but only if current criteria for a weight management referral are met. Patients who do not meet the criteria will not be able to access these treatments on the NHS at this time. 

GLP-1 receptor agonists in Primary Care

Please see the Weight Management - Tirzepatide (Mounjaro) page for advice on prescribing in primary care 

*Use a lower BMI threshold (usually reduced by 2.5 kg/m2) for people from South Asian, Chinese, other Asian, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean ethnic backgrounds.

Patients with diabetes who meet criteria for prescribing of GLP-1 receptor agonists will continue to be able to access these medications as normal. See the Diabetes Mellitus page in the BNSSG formulary for further details.

Bariatric Surgery

The NBT Service is closed to new referrals (last updated 14/7/25)

Referral for gastric band surgery is only accessible via the tier 3 weight management service as detailed above. Patients must meet the criteria stated in the funding policy or otherwise will not be accepted by the service unless exceptional funding has been obtained.

Patients who have undergone previous weight loss surgery

Patients who have previously had surgery (private or NHS) and are not currently receiving follow up cannot be referred without securing individual funding first.

In addition, please see the following advice about appropriate referrals from the exceptional funding team.

Patients who have previously had a Self-Funded gastric band

Patients who have self-funded a gastric band procedure either in the UK or abroad are responsible for all elective follow up and this is not funded by the NHS. However, if a patient has an acute complication (i.e. extensive pain/vomiting) then they will need to be admitted for urgent assessment and management. This may include “deflating” their band. Refilling a band after the acute episode is not covered by the NHS. A band may be removed during an acute treatment episode if perhaps it has slipped dangerously and as long as it is part of the urgent care, but replacing the band would not be funded.

Patients who have previously had an NHS funded gastric band

Patients receiving treatment on the NHS are able to be seen for 2 years post-surgery to optimise any band fills etc. After 2 years, NHS care isn’t routinely funded except in an acute episode as described above – again any refilling or the band would not be routinely funded by the NHS.

Post Bariatric Surgery Monitoring and Complications

See the Post Bariatric Surgery Monitoring page for advice and tips for patients post bariatric surgery and how to manage complications.

Patients with non- acute abdominal Symptoms who have had bariatric surgery

If a patient presents with non- acute abdominal symptoms following bariatric surgery, then they should be investigated and managed in primary care initially (see Post Bariatric Surgery Monitoring ).  You can also request GI Advice & Guidance and refer if appropriate.

Exceptional Funding

The exceptional funding team (EFR) do occasionally get requests to deflate/remove bands in patients who have had either NHS (more than 2 years following surgery) or Self-Funded surgery. This is not funded and can only be considered if there is exceptionality that is agreed by the funding team.

If further clarification regarding referrals is needed, please contact the funding team via email at bnssg.efr@nhs.net

Resources

Oviva patient leaflet 

GP information leaflet - NBT service

Efforts are made to ensure the accuracy and agreement of these guidelines, including any content uploaded, referred to or linked to from the system. However, BNSSG ICB cannot guarantee this. This guidance does not override the individual responsibility of healthcare professionals to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual patient, in consultation with the patient and/or guardian or carer, in accordance with the mental capacity act, and informed by the summary of product characteristics of any drugs they are considering. Practitioners are required to perform their duties in accordance with the law and their regulators and nothing in this guidance should be interpreted in a way that would be inconsistent with compliance with those duties.

Information provided through Remedy is continually updated so please be aware any printed copies may quickly become out of date.