NHS customer case · Southampton

Putting the young person at the centre of specialist obesity care

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust provides specialist Complications from Excess Weight care for children and young people across the Wessex region.

Its multidisciplinary pathway combines medical treatment with psychology, dietetics, physiotherapy and youth work — creating personalised support around the health, circumstances and goals of each young person.

Evira adds connected home monitoring and digital communication around this person-centred model.

South East CEW hubPerson-centred carePublished service research

University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust

At a glance

Under 18

the Southampton CEW service supports children and young people up to the age of 18 across the Wessex region

12 months

the current patient pathway describes working with children and families over approximately 12 months, with individual plans reviewed throughout

Multidisciplinary team

doctors, specialist nurses, dietitians, physiotherapy, clinical psychology and youth work contribute to the pathway

South East CEW hub

University Hospital Southampton is currently listed by NHS England as a South East CEW hub

University Hospital Southampton CEW patient information / NHS England.

The pathway challenge

Severe obesity rarely exists in isolation

Children reaching specialist obesity services often live with medical complications alongside psychological, educational and social challenges.

Southampton’s own published research demonstrates this complexity.

A review of 100 children attending its tertiary paediatric weight-management service found weight-related complications in 85% of patients, including metabolic disease, liver disease, obstructive sleep apnoea, hypertension and mental-health needs.

Treatment therefore cannot focus on weight alone. The pathway needs to understand the individual child and the factors affecting their health, wellbeing and ability to engage with treatment.

Southampton service research

A population with significant clinical need

In 2022, clinicians from Southampton Children’s Hospital published an evaluation of the last 100 patients seen within their tertiary paediatric weight-management service.

85%

Weight-related comorbidity

85 of the 100 children had at least one identified complication associated with excess weight.

43%

Liver disease signals

42.6% of those assessed had evidence consistent with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

45%

Obstructive sleep apnoea

Among those assessed for sleep apnoea, 45% were affected.

25%

Mental health treatment

One in four patients had received formal treatment for anxiety or depression.

Not every patient underwent every investigation, so denominators differ between individual complications. The 85% figure refers to the complete 100-patient cohort.

The Southampton researchers concluded that the degree of excess weight was associated with increasing clinical complexity, and highlighted the importance of identifying obesity-related complications.

Read the published study ↗

Source 2

Published 2024 analysis

Understanding what can make engagement harder

A 2024 study examining young people attending CEW services in Southampton and Portsmouth found substantial levels of neurodiversity, educational need, deprivation and involvement with children’s services.

The study included 67 young people from Southampton.

45%

Neurodiversity

30 of 67 Southampton patients had a diagnosis of, or were awaiting assessment for, autism or ADHD.

33%

High deprivation

22 of 67 lived within the most deprived 20% of UK neighbourhoods.

16%

Education, health and care plan

11 of 67 Southampton patients had an EHCP.

13%

Not in education, employment or training

9 of 67 Southampton patients were recorded as NEET.

A further 13% had previously had a Child in Need plan and 7% a Child Protection Plan.

The researchers concluded that young people attending these services had particularly high levels of neurodiversity and educational and social complexity, and argued that multi-agency working is essential to meet their needs.

These figures describe the Southampton subgroup within a joint Southampton and Portsmouth service analysis. They are not Evira outcomes.

View the BSPED 2024 research ↗

Source 3

Person-centred care

Engagement starts with the person, not the weight

Southampton’s CEW pathway includes a dedicated youth-work role alongside its clinical team.

NHS England has highlighted the work of Jasmine Hindle, P.E.E.E.R Youth Worker within University Hospital Southampton’s weight-management service. Her role focuses on building trust with young people and addressing the practical and emotional barriers that can make change difficult.

One-to-one support

Individual sessions create space to understand the young person's priorities, challenges and motivations.

Walk and talks

Support does not always need to happen across a desk in a clinical room.

Life skills

Work can include cooking, budgeting, reading food labels, goal setting and practical problem-solving.

Clinical advocacy

The youth worker can help young people communicate their needs and take a more active part in their treatment.

“For many of the young people I support, prevention starts with feeling valued, included and confident enough to take that first step.”

Jasmine Hindle
P.E.E.E.R Youth Worker, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
NHS England South East

Engagement in practice

Creating opportunities young people actually want to engage with

Southampton’s youth-work approach led to the development of Activation — an initiative combining physical activity with practical life skills and peer support for young people in the CEW service.

Young people can take part in supported activity and gym sessions while also working on areas such as cooking, budgeting, nutrition, goal setting and problem-solving. The service describes the project as shaped by asking the young people themselves what they wanted and needed.

The programme also created opportunities for friendship, confidence and peer encouragement.

Movement

Safe and supported opportunities to become more active.

Practical skills

Cooking, budgeting, food labels and everyday decision-making.

Confidence and community

Building relationships, self-belief and peer support.

Source 6, 7, 4

In practice

An individual plan around each child

Personalised goals

University Hospital Southampton states that every child is different and receives an individual plan with goals tailored to their needs.

Regular medical review

Each child is allocated a specific doctor, with medical reviews approximately every four months during the current pathway.

Wider MDT support

Appointments with nursing, dietetics, psychology, physiotherapy and youth work can be added according to individual need.

Beyond the CEW team

The service can work with schools, CAMHS, social workers and other professionals already involved in the child's care.

This creates a pathway where the clinical team does not work in isolation. Relevant professionals around the young person can contribute to consistent support.

Source 1

The South East network

Part of a seven-centre specialist network

University Hospital Southampton is one of seven current CEW hubs in the South East.

Public NHS information describes the South East CEW network as hosted by University Hospital Southampton and working across Southampton, Portsmouth, Oxford, Brighton, Frimley, Ashford and St Peter’s, and Dartford and Gravesham.

The network brings together clinical teams, commissioners and other services around the specialist biopsychosocial model of obesity care. Southampton does not directly treat all patients across these seven centres.

Source 5

Where Evira fits

Supporting the space between clinical interactions

Southampton’s pathway is already built around personalised goals, multidisciplinary support and regular review.

Evira adds another channel around that model. Connected home measurements provide an ongoing view of progress while families are away from clinic, and digital communication gives the clinical team another way to provide personalised support between scheduled interactions.

At home

Families can collect regular measurements using a connected device without daily weight numbers being displayed.

Progress over time

The young person and clinical team can follow the direction of progress rather than focusing on individual measurements.

Between appointments

Digital communication creates another route for feedback and support during the periods between clinical contacts.

The role of Evira is to support continuity around Southampton’s multidisciplinary pathway — not to replace the relationship between the young person and the clinical team.

Personalised support

The same intervention will not work for every young person

Southampton’s published service data shows a population with substantial variation in medical conditions, neurodevelopment, mental health, education and social circumstances.

That complexity makes a uniform weight-management programme unlikely to meet every young person’s needs.

The Southampton model instead combines specialist clinical care with individualised goals, youth work and coordination with the wider services already supporting the child.

Digital support is most useful when it strengthens that personalised approach rather than becoming another rigid requirement.

Digital support in CEW

Extending specialist support into the home

Across England, NHS CEW services have introduced connected digital technology to support families between clinic appointments.

NHS England reported in May 2025 that the technology was being piloted across 15 CEW clinics, with around 350 families using connected hidden-digit scales and an app. Measurements are transferred to the clinical team, which can provide personalised feedback and communication between hospital visits.

Independent ENHANCE evidence subsequently identified Evira as the digital weight-management system available to CEW services for weighing and communication with children and families.

Home monitoring

Connected measurements collected outside clinic.

Clinical visibility

Progress available to the clinical team over time.

Personalised communication

An additional route for support between scheduled interactions.

These are national CEW findings and must not be presented as Southampton-specific Evira outcomes.

Source 9, 10

Clinical innovation

Evaluating new treatment options within multidisciplinary care

Southampton clinicians have also contributed to the developing evidence around pharmacological treatment for adolescents living with severe obesity.

A 2024 observational study from a tertiary paediatric multidisciplinary weight-management service reported outcomes from the first 50 children treated with semaglutide alongside dietary and lifestyle support, with statistically significant reductions in BMI SDS and body weight at six months.

This is evidence about semaglutide within specialist multidisciplinary care. It is not evidence about Evira and is not an Evira result.

View the peer-reviewed study ↗

Public evidence

What Southampton has published

Southampton Children’s Hospital / BSPED 2022

Percentage excess weight and risk of co-morbidity in obese children

Southampton-specific evaluation of 100 children demonstrating the high prevalence of physical and mental-health complications within the tertiary service.

Read the study ↗

BSPED 2024

Psychological and social characteristics of children and young people living with obesity in Portsmouth and Southampton

Provides Southampton-specific data on deprivation, neurodiversity, EHCPs, NEET status and children’s-services involvement.

Read the research ↗

NHS England South East

Jasmine Hindle — P.E.E.E.R Youth Worker

Independent NHS account of how Southampton uses youth work, trust-building, practical life skills and advocacy to support young people.

Read the NHS England profile ↗

University Hospital Southampton

CEW service for children — patient information

Primary current source for the local MDT, 12-month pathway, personalised goals, medical follow-up and collaboration with schools, CAMHS and social care.

View patient information ↗

NHS England

Complications from Excess Weight clinics

Confirms University Hospital Southampton as a current South East CEW hub.

View the national network ↗

Archives of Disease in Childhood

Semaglutide treatment for children with obesity: an observational study

Peer-reviewed evidence of treatment innovation within multidisciplinary specialist paediatric obesity care involving the Southampton clinical team.

View peer-reviewed research ↗

Sources and references

Southampton has published service research, but not Evira-specific effectiveness outcomes. The clinical and psychosocial findings above describe the Southampton CEW service and are not attributed to Evira. National CEW evidence is presented separately.

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