New Curia Report: Building the Case for Integrated Obesity Care

The 2026 Parliamentary Obesity Summit report calls for a shift from treatment access to long-term outcomes within Integrated Obesity Care, with a practical programme to help NHS systems design, test and evaluate integrated care.

Effective treatments for obesity are available, and national policy is moving. However, a recent Parliamentary summit and report questions whether people can access the right support at the right time, and whether services can sustain that support over the long-term.

Drawing on its 2026 Parliamentary Obesity Summit, a new report from policy institute Curia, commissioned by UK Healthcare and Life Sciences Innovation (UKHLSI), sets out how to meet that challenge. From Access to Outcomes brings together views from clinicians, NHS and local government leaders, policymakers, industry, community organisations and people with lived experience. It turns those discussions into a programme for better care and a stronger economic case for investment.

The report’s central argument is that obesity care cannot be judged by medicines costs or short-term weight change alone. Its value should be assessed through a wider set of outcomes: cardiovascular, renal, and metabolic health; service use; mental wellbeing; patient safety and trust; workforce participation; inequalities; and the long-term cost of inaction.

UKHLSI Chief Executive Jo Bekis puts the emphasis on implementation:

“The next challenge is implementation.”

Care designed around people and pathways

The summit heard that obesity is a chronic, relapsing condition, often connected to cardiovascular, renal, metabolic and mental health needs. Yet services are frequently organised in separate tiers, with different thresholds, budgets, referral routes, and data systems.

For patients, that can mean delays, repeated assessments, and gaps between services. Short-term programmes can also sit uneasily alongside a condition that may require continuing support, maintenance, and the ability to return to care when circumstances change.

The report calls for integrated pathways that bring together clinical treatment, behavioural and psychological support, digital care, and community-based help. They should be personalised to people’s needs and circumstances, with clear routes between neighbourhood teams, pharmacies, specialist services, and trusted community organisations.

That means widening the idea of where care happens. The summit heard examples of health support delivered in places such as pubs, barber shops, workplaces and community settings – reaching people who may not engage with conventional services. These partners need to be connected to safe clinical pathways and properly supported.

Dr Rani Khatib, National Specialty Adviser for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at NHS England, summed up the principle:

“Manage people, do not manage conditions.”

Trust and safety are part of effective care

The report highlights the way people experience care affects whether they seek help, engage with treatment, and return when they need further support.

Summit participants described how stigma, blame and previous difficult experiences can undermine trust before treatment even begins. The report cites the Numan State of Obesity Report 2025, which found that 68 per cent of surveyed people living with overweight or obesity had felt judged by a healthcare professional because of their weight.

“The cost of doing nothing is the human cost.”

Emm Irving, former Head of Improving Population Health, West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership

Trauma-informed, non-stigmatising practice is therefore both an ethical responsibility and a practical part of designing effective services. The report recommends that pathways monitor whether people feel listened to, respected and safe, alongside clinical outcomes and service activity.

It also calls for maintenance and re-entry to be treated as parts of care, not signs of failure. A pathway should give people continuity and a route back to support without making them start again from the beginning.

Making an honest economic case

The summit examined why investment in prevention and earlier care can be difficult to secure. Costs may fall to one organisation, while benefits emerge later or elsewhere – in fewer hospital admissions, reduced social care demand, improved workforce participation, lower sickness absence, or stronger productivity.

The report calls for a Treasury-facing case that is transparent about where value arises and when. It recommends distinguishing between cash-releasing savings, capacity freed up for other care, future costs avoided, and wider economic and social benefits. It also argues for realistic time horizons and scenario analysis, rather than promising that every intervention will immediately pay for itself.

To build that case, the report proposes a common outcomes framework covering clinical measures, service use, patient experience, treatment sustainability, workforce, and economic outcomes, equity, and delivery costs. Weight change can be one measure but should not define success on its own.

Evidence should be built through delivery. Strategic Innovation Gateways would bring local NHS systems and their partners together to assess readiness, design pathways, agree measures and evaluate what works under real-world conditions. A small number of demonstrators could help show which approaches benefit which groups, at what cost and over what timescale.

The report proposes a 12–18-month programme combining local demonstrations with national evidence, workforce learning, community partnership and policy development. Its intended outputs include a Treasury-facing economic model, a shared outcomes and evaluation framework, practical implementation guidance and recommendations for wider commissioning.

Join UKHLSI’s Obesity Working Group

The report proposes a National Obesity Working Group, bringing partners together to agree priorities, measures and a shared programme of work. The proposed format includes four virtual meetings, one or two face-to-face development events, task-and-finish priorities and an annual progress report.

UKHLSI is inviting organisations and individuals with relevant experience to get involved. This includes NHS and local government leaders, clinicians, researchers, community, and voluntary organisations, people with lived experience, and partners from life sciences and digital health.

Contributions could include helping shape priorities and outcomes, sharing evidence, supporting community and lived-experience participation, or identifying practical challenges in local delivery. The report also proposes separate routes for involvement in Gateway projects, evidence and evaluation, and workforce learning. These routes would have their own scopes and governance.

The programme is designed to protect the independence of its work. The report proposes transparent, pooled support and clear safeguards: participation or sponsorship would not confer influence over clinical decisions, recommendations or public findings, or guarantee a seat, NHS commission or supplier preference. People with lived experience and community organisations should be funded partners in co-design and evaluation, not simply consultees.

UKHLSI is now looking to build the partnerships needed to take this work forward. To discuss joining the Obesity Working Group or contributing to the Strategic Innovation Gateway programme, contact enquiries@ukhlsi.co.uk.

As Jo Bekis said at the summit:

“When we say action, we mean action.”