Mum-of-two Hannah Baker waited four years on an NHS waiting list for weight-loss support
A woman who waited for four years on an NHS waiting list for weight-loss support has said she believes she could have avoided developing type 2 diabetes if she was given help sooner.
Hannah Baker, 44, said she has struggled with her weight her whole life.
The mum-of-two, who enrolled on private medical provider Oviva’s Tier 3 weight management programme in August, has lost 33 pounds and seen her BMI fall since becoming a participant.
Oviva’s weight-loss programme, which is commissioned and accredited by the NHS, is free for patients and can prescribe eligible participants NHS weight-loss injections.
Ms Baker said she felt forgotten while on the NHS waiting list and as though help was “never” going to come – but is now losing weight at a “steady and manageable pace”.
As part of the weight-loss service, she has “a whole team behind you that work with you to reach your goal weight”, including a psychologist and dieticians that provide feedback on her individual meal choices.
She told The i Paper: “I do believe that if I’d had help a little bit sooner then maybe I wouldn’t have got the type 2 diabetes.
“I do think that was definitely diet-related. So, had my diet changed earlier, then maybe it wouldn’t have got to that point.
“I’m lucky that it’s reversible and it’s definitely going that way.”
The local government worker who has been taking Wegovy, the brand name for the semaglutide medication, for six months had previously been denied the drug via her GP as it was “not funded in our area”.
She now injects once a week and is not “constantly thinking about food”.
“Literally, from the minute I opened my eyes I would think about food: what I was going to have for breakfast, and then while I was eating breakfast I’d be thinking, ‘Oh well, what am I going to have for lunch or what are we going to have for dinner tonight’,” she said.
“It was just this constant food noise. I never understood this term food noise until it was gone.
“The worst thing is while you’re eating you’re thinking about what your next meal is going to be.
“There was never that feeling of being full and satisfied. It was just where’s the next [bit of] food going to come from.”
Ms Baker, whose BMI was 47 when she started the programme and has now fallen to 42, supports the push to ditch the measure as the sole indicator of obesity.
“There’s people who their BMI might say they’re overweight, but actually they’re not overweight at all.
“That is literally just a number and I don’t think it’s fair to bracket everybody in a number because there are so many different reasons for why your BMI might be whatever it is.
“It does need to be done on an individual basis looking at the person and their lifestyle because [weight-loss injections] are not suitable for everybody. It’s not a quick fix.”
Ms Baker has a goal weight in mind but is conscious that even when she achieves this her BMI will mean she will still be classified as obese.
She said: “I would like to be 13/14 stone, which ironically still makes me obese, according to my BMI. That’s the most frustrating thing.”
Martin Fidock, UK managing director at Oviva, said the company has treated thousands of people that were previously stuck waiting for treatment, in pain and often suffering with multiple co-morbidities.
Mr Fidock is calling for better promotion of weight-loss management programmes to ensure patients are aware free help is available via the NHS.
He said: “The Government recently unveiled its elective reform plans, focused on clearing waiting lists and prioritising treatment for patients.
“If it is to do this, the Government must highlight the ability for patients to access services such as ours and treat obesity as a chronic condition that has an untold impact on individuals health, the NHS and the wider economy.”