Orlistat is a lipase inhibitor that blocks around a third of dietary fat from being absorbed, taken with each main meal. It is the established oral option in weight management, effective when paired with a reduced-fat diet, which its side-effect profile actively enforces.

The condition it treats

Obesity is a chronic, relapsing condition measured in the consultation by BMI (adjusted for ethnicity) and comorbidity. Pharmacological support is an adjunct to diet and activity change, and the pathway builds in the reviews that keep treatment purposeful.

How the service runs on Scripter

Patients book online, complete the pre-consultation questionnaire, and the guided pathway walks the practitioner through the weight loss consultation with the screening and counselling steps built in. The supply decision, the record and any GP notification are produced in the same flow, documented against the exact protocol version in force.

Training and eligibility requirements.

Who can deliver this service, and who it can be delivered to. The governing PGD document defines the definitive inclusion, exclusion and supply criteria; the Scripter consultation pathway enforces them, and every consultation is documented against the protocol version it ran under.

Practitioner training

✓Registered healthcare professional from a profession authorised to supply under PGDs (Schedule 16, Part 4 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012), such as a pharmacist, nurse, paramedic or physiotherapist, with current registration with their professional regulator

✓Practising from premises suitable for the service, such as registered pharmacy premises or a registered clinic

✓Assessed clinical competency for this service, declared and reviewed as part of PGD authorisation

✓Sign-off against the current version of this PGD in Scripter before first supply; sign-offs expire automatically when the protocol is updated, and the platform notifies everyone affected

✓In-date basic life support and safeguarding training

✓Indemnity arrangements covering the service

Patient eligibility

✓Adults meeting the governing PGD's BMI threshold, with ethnicity-adjusted criteria applied

✓Pregnancy, breastfeeding and malabsorption conditions screened out

✓Interacting medicines reviewed; orlistat affects absorption of some drugs and fat-soluble vitamins

✓Weight, diet and review schedule recorded so continuation depends on documented response

Orlistat PGD questions

Who is eligible for orlistat under this PGD?+

Adults meeting the BMI criteria in the governing PGD, screened for contraindications and interacting medicines in the consultation; the pathway applies ethnicity-adjusted thresholds automatically.

How much weight loss should be expected?+

Orlistat typically adds a few kilograms of loss over diet alone; continuation is reviewed against a documented weight-loss target, and the record makes that review objective.

What are the side effects everyone mentions?+

Oily stools and urgency when dietary fat is high; they are the drug working as designed, and the dietary counselling step is what keeps them manageable.

How often is the patient reviewed?+

On the schedule the governing PGD sets, with weight tracked as a health metric on the patient record so trends are visible across visits.

More weight loss PGDs.

Related protocols in the same category, all delivered through the same platform.

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