Tirzepatide for managing overweight and obesity

When to refer

Some people may benefit from referral to specialist services, regardless of their choice of medicine. Review the referral criteria for your local specialist overweight and obesity management service and, where available, your locally defined pathway aligned to local commissioning arrangements.

If a person is eligible for and wants to consider semaglutide or liraglutide, they will need to be referred to a specialist service. Advise them that the service will review and assess them before deciding whether to prescribe the medicine.

Refer the person as needed for assessment for any comorbidities or to other services, for example, social care, physiotherapy or other physical or mental health and wellbeing support. If an eating disorder is suspected, assess the person in line with the section on identification and assessment in the NICE guideline on eating disorders. Refer immediately to the appropriate eating disorder service for further assessment or treatment. A single measure, such as BMI, should not be used to determine whether to offer treatment for an eating disorder.