989 A cross-sectional survey of child weight management service provision by acute NHS trusts across England in 2020

Abstract

<h3>Aims</h3> With over 20% of children in the UK living with obesity, our study aimed to map child weight management services provided by acute NHS trusts across England. The primary objectives were to identify the proportion of NHS trusts providing a weight management service and to determine whether there were any geographical disparities in the distribution of these services. The secondary objective was to understand the format of services provided. Our final objective was to explore whether the catchment population for acute NHS trusts providing a service differed in terms of ethnicity and deprivation, compared to those that did not provide a service. <h3>Methods</h3> A survey was sent to each acute NHS trust in England (n=148) through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request. The survey comprised eight questions seeking to collect data on: the proportion of NHS trusts providing weight management services for children living with obesity, service’s eligibility criteria, source of funding, key personnel involved, number of new patients seen per year, intervention duration, length of follow up and the outcomes collected. <h3>Results</h3> The survey response rate was 94% (n=139/148). Thirty-two (23%) acute NHS trusts provided a weight management service for children living with obesity. The proportion of NHS trusts providing a child weight management service was greatest in London (36%, n=9/32) and the North-East and Yorkshire (32%, n=7/32) and lowest within the Midlands (4% n=1/32). There were inconsistencies in eligibility criteria and characteristics of weight management services as demonstrated in figure 1. 61% of existing services saw fewer than 100 new patients per year and there was no standardisation of intervention duration, follow-up period or outcome measures as demonstrated in figure 2. <h3>Conclusion</h3> There are inequalities in the geographical distribution of child weight management services across England, provided by acute NHS trusts. The NHS long term plan for tackling the current inequalities in service provision aims to treat a further 1000 children per year with severe complications of obesity through the ‘complication of excess weight’ (CEW) clinics.