What is Slimming World on Referral?
Slimming World on Referral is a partnership scheme between health professionals and Slimming World, providing overweight patients with effective, long-lasting, community-based weight loss support.
Health Practitioners taking part in the scheme can refer patients to Slimming World groups, offering them free membership for 12 weeks. The cost is paid for by the NHS and subsidised by Slimming World.
The first weight management company to actively support the building of partnerships with the NHS, Slimming World pioneered its ‘Slimming on Referral’ scheme with Southern Derbyshire PCT in 2001. Our pilot with Derbyshire proved that a commercial weight management company could offer an effective solution to reduce overweight and obesity levels in the community. The pilot scheme provided recognition of service quality, patient satisfaction and value for money. Importantly the scheme has sustained that initial level of success for more than 6 years. It has proven to be an effective, low cost solution to the NHS with the number of schemes now standing at over 50 and more than 40,000 patient referral packs in issue.
Data from the first 2,100 members to finish 12 week programme:
- 34% were considered morbidly obese (BMI>40)
- Average attendance was 9.4 weeks (of 12)
- 64% completed the programme (10 of 12 weeks)
- Average weight loss of completers was 5.5% (4.2% across total population)
- 55% of completers lost ≥ 5% bodyweight (39% of total population)
- Non-completers attended an average of 5.6 weeks and lost 2.1% of bodyweight
