Obesity Pathway Innovation Programme

Developing innovative community and primary care based weight management pathways.

UK NHS organisations can apply for a share of up to £85 million for Obesity Pathway Innovations. Funding for this competition is from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (£50 million) and Eli Lilly and Company Limited (£35 million).

In short

Project Costs Project Costs

Total costs between £2 million and £3.5 million

Project Location Project Location

Carry out its project work in the UK/intend to exploit the results from or in the UK

Project Start & Finish Project Start & Finish

Start by 1 May 2026, end by 31 March 2029

Project Delivery Project Delivery

Be able to start delivering services to patients by 1 August 2026

Project Deadline Project Deadline

Demonstrate system readiness to patients as soon as possible, and by 1 August 2026 at the latest

Funding Rates Funding Rates

Total eligible project costs will be 100% funded

Obesity Pathway Innovation Programme Strands

This competition is split into three strands.

The service must provide a comprehensive patient-centred access service within a multi-disciplinary team, to include multiple referral inputs, triage, onward referrals, care pathway management, escalation and reporting. The service will support the optimal use of all available services for weight management, including national and local programmes. 

Services must provide new pathways and models of care for the patient once they have been referred for an intervention. The service must assess patient eligibility, checking for contra-indications and facilitating access to appropriate services, offering choice where available. It must be based around new delivery pathways that demonstrate innovation, for example, but not limited to:

  • community pharmacy led service
  • services that include digital or remote solutions
  • integrating existing community based services

Your care pathway services must provide new models of care for the patient once they have been referred for an intervention. The service must assess patient eligibility, checking for contra-indications and facilitating access to appropriate services, offering choice where available. It must be based around new delivery pathways that demonstrate innovation, for example, but not limited to:

  • community pharmacy led service
  • services that include digital or remote solutions
  • integrating existing community based services

The whole pathway will be assessed so applicants must demonstrate end-to-end proposals of a consistently high quality.

Is your project eligible?

To be eligible, your project:

  • will be considered as part of the Portfolio approach/ funding allocations between the three competition strands
  • Cannot use a previously submitted application.
  • Is in line with the Subsidy Control Act 2022.
  • Subcontractors are allowed in this competition from anywhere in the UK. 
  • lead organisation must be an eligible NHS organisation able to receive grant funding with no subsidy
  • lead organisation must not act in any way to gain selective commercial or economic advantage from the outputs of this project
  • eligible public sector organisation can only lead on up to two applications across all strands of the competition

How can PNO UK help with your application?

At PNO Innovation, we transform ideas into fundable, high-impact projects through a strategic, data-driven approach. With decades of experience and a proven track record in securing competitive funding, we offer a complete, end-to-end service designed to maximise your project’s success, impact, and sustainability.

Some of our experts

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