University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust

Within the hospital-based tier 3 and 4 obesity service at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW), a 6-fold increase in the number of referrals was seen over a 5-year period between 2014 and 2019 with >1800 patients currently accessing the obesity service.

This number is likely an order of magnitude lower than that of local adults who are eligible for referral to the service, with an estimated 2% of men and 4% of women currently living in the Coventry and Warwickshire region who have a BMI >40 kg/m2. 

Gro Health was offered as a digital support tool for patients waiting for their first hospital appointment. Access to the app was offered to patients at their initial medical consultation after being referred to the hospital-based obesity service at UHCW in 2020. 

The platform was used to deliver education, peer-to-peer support, and group based coaching to self-manage obesity. Remote monitoring data was evaluated by the clinical team to identify patients engaged with the tool.

Data comparisons between the platform user group using a nutrition programme contained within the Gro Health app and a pre–COVID-19 retrospective control group revealed equivalence for loss of body weight and change in HbA1c between the two groups. 

The Gro Health weight management service has been replicated within Tier 3 and Tier 4 Obesity Services at: 
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• Barts Health NHS Trust 
• King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 
• Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust 

Implementations have been supported with grants from NHSx and The Association for the Study of Obesity.