Weight loss
Lose weight with a doctor beside you
Not a questionnaire and a parcel. A proper assessment, baseline bloods read by the doctor, and a monitoring schedule that runs for as long as you are treated.
Fully online. Video consultation with Dr Qurbain, medication dispensed to your door, and no need to travel anywhere.
Lost weight before, and watched it come back?
If any of these sound familiar, this consultation was built for you.
You have done it before. Keeping it off was the part nobody helped with.
You want to know what is actually going on inside, not just be handed something.
You would rather be told honestly if it is not working than kept on a repeat.
You want the same doctor still there in six months.
Medication does part of the work. The reviews do the rest.
These medicines work. They also need watching. What makes treatment safe is not the prescription — it is the bloods before it, the reviews after it, and a doctor who stops treatment that is not working rather than one who keeps selling it.
So you are reviewed at four weeks, eight weeks, three months, six months, then annually, with bloods where they change a decision. Supply never runs past your next review.
How it works
Four steps, all from home
Assessment
Full history: weight, conditions, every medicine, family history, mood, alcohol. Eating disorder screening for everyone, always. Height and weight measured in the consultation, so your BMI is a measurement rather than a recollection.
Baseline bloods
HbA1c, liver, kidney, lipids, thyroid and full blood count — home kit or local appointment. Read by the doctor before anything is prescribed. Anything unexpected is dealt with first.
Your plan
Dispensed by a registered pharmacy with a written plan, how to use it, and the dose schedule set out in advance. Your GP is told.
Reviewed, not resupplied
Four weeks, eight weeks, three months, six months, then annually. Weight, blood pressure, side effects, mood and eating at each one. Bloods at three, six and twelve months.
Your monitoring schedule
Treatment is never dispatched beyond the next review. These are the points where you are seen and where bloods are repeated.
Baseline
Before anything is prescribed
Full history, mandatory eating disorder screening, BMI measured in the consultation, and a full blood panel read by the doctor.
Weeks 4 and 8
Settling in
Weight, side effects, how you are getting on. Dose increased if you are tolerating it, or held for four weeks if you are not.
Month 3
First response check
Weight, blood pressure, bloods repeated. Under 5% prompts a look at adherence and dose before anything else.
Month 6
The decision point
Full blood panel and a psychological review. This is where treatment either continues or stops.
Month 12, then yearly
Long-term review
Full assessment including the plan for how treatment eventually ends.
What is included
The clinical work
- Video consultation with Dr Qurbain, not a form
- Full blood panel, read by the doctor before prescribing
- BMI measured, not self-reported
- Eating disorder screening at the start and at every review
- A written plan every time
Alongside the medicine
- Eating and activity changes are part of the treatment, not an extra
- Diet, nutrition and exercise advice included in your care
- A clear dose schedule, and a dose hold when you need one
- Your GP informed at the start, and kept informed
The honest part
- An exit plan agreed at the start, not when supply stops
- Treatment stopped if it is not working at six months
- Stopped on request, without obstruction
- Referred on where a specialist service is the right answer
What good looks like, and the line we hold
Response is judged at six months. If you have lost less than 5% of your body weight by then, on an optimised dose taken as intended, treatment stops. That is the national standard, and we apply it rather than continue a prescription that is not earning its place. Equally honest: weight regain after stopping is common. That is why the lifestyle work alongside matters, and why we agree how treatment ends before it begins.
What you need to know before starting
Side effects, and what to do about them
Read
Most people tolerate treatment. Side effects are usually worst while the dose is going up, then settle. You are entitled to the full picture first.
- Stomach and bowel — nausea, vomiting, constipation or diarrhoea, especially as the dose rises. A dose can be held for four weeks rather than pushed.
- Severe abdominal pain that does not settle, especially with vomiting — stop and seek urgent medical attention. Inflammation of the pancreas is uncommon but serious.
- Dehydration from persistent vomiting can affect your kidneys. Tell us rather than pushing through.
- Mood and eating are asked about at every review and recorded. If your relationship with food becomes distressing, treatment stops and you are supported.
- Pregnancy — not used in pregnancy or breastfeeding, and stopped if you become pregnant or decide to try. Contraception discussed where relevant.
- A new lump in the neck on treatment is referred urgently.
- Other medicines — tell us all of them. Some, including diabetes medication and anticoagulants, need adjusting.
When we will not prescribe
Who this service cannot treat, and why
Read
Some are absolute. Others mean a different service is the right one, and you will be told which and why.
- Personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, or multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2
- Pregnancy, breastfeeding, or planning a pregnancy
- Previous acute pancreatitis
- An active eating disorder — absolute, whatever your BMI. Referred, and your GP told the same working day
- Severe gastroparesis or significant chronic bowel disease
- Anyone under 18
- BMI below the treatment threshold — advice and support instead of a prescription that is not indicated
- Unwillingness to have the baseline bloods, or to attend the reviews
A very high BMI with significant complications, or treatment that has not worked, belongs with a specialist weight management or bariatric service. You are referred.
Monitoring is the service
The full review and monitoring schedule
Read
Weight, blood pressure, side effects, mood and eating at four and eight weeks. At three months, bloods repeated and response assessed — under 5% means a look at adherence and dose first. At six months, a full panel and the continue-or-stop decision. At twelve months and annually after that, a full review including the long-term plan. Supply never runs past your next review, and missed reviews stop supply.
The six-month rule we actually apply
This is the national standard, and applying it is the difference between a clinical service and a subscription.
At six months, on an optimised dose and taking it as intended, have you lost at least 5% of your body weight?
Under 5%
Treatment is stopped and reassessed. You are not kept on a prescription that is not earning its place, and referral to a specialist weight service is discussed.
5% or more
Treatment continues, with a full review at twelve months and annually after that.
Our approach follows current national guidance. See the guidelines we work to.
Initial consultation
Your initial consultation is paid when you book, before the consultation, and is charged whether or not treatment is prescribed. A follow-up review is paid when it happens, and only if you or your doctor decide you need one.
Joining the waiting list is free. Medicine, if prescribed, is bought separately from the dispensing pharmacy and its cost is confirmed with you before you pay for each supply.
Covers the video consultation, the full baseline blood panel read by the doctor, your eligibility assessment, written plan and monitoring schedule. Medication, where prescribed, is dispensed and priced separately by a registered pharmacy.