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Specialist Obesity and Bariatric team shortlisted for national award after transforming service
A pioneering new NHS service in Yorkshire that is redesigning how people access obesity and bariatric care has been shortlisted for a national innovation award, after tackling long‑standing inequalities and delays in treatment.
The Specialist Obesity and Bariatric Service (SOBS) at Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust has been named a finalist at the prestigious Medipex Innovation Awards 2026, recognising its bold new approach to delivering faster, fairer and more joined‑up care.
The service was developed after clinicians identified that the traditional tiered pathway for bariatric care, where patients moved sequentially through multiple stages before surgery, had become fragmented, slow, inequitable and provided difficulty for patients.
In response, the team introduced a radically simplified model, allowing patients to be referred directly into a single, integrated specialist service – cutting through complexity and bringing the right expertise together from the outset.
Despite launching only in June 2025, early findings suggest the model is drastically delivering faster access to care for patients along with offering more coordinated support and enhanced care experience.
At the heart of the new approach is a fully integrated multidisciplinary team, including surgeons, psychologists, dietitians and physiotherapists, working together to support patients throughout their journey.
Patients also benefit from a 12‑week pre‑surgery group programme, designed to provide both clinical preparation and psychological support – helping improve readiness for surgery while accelerating treatment timelines.
Assistant Psychologist Sophie Bradshaw, said:
“We knew the old pathway wasn’t working as well as it should. It had become complicated and didn’t always reflect what patients actually needed.
“By bringing everything together into one service, we’ve been able to provide more timely, coordinated care – and support people much earlier in their journey.”
The model is now attracting wider interest as a potential blueprint for the future of obesity services in the NHS, with the potential to further influence policy and service design to the wider national service delivery.
The Medipex Innovation Awards celebrate outstanding improvements in healthcare delivery, with winners set to be announced soon.