Norfolk charity calls on government to set aside more cash to tackle eating disorders
There's been a 66% rise in young people receiving urgent eating disorder treatment since 2019
Last updated 3rd Mar 2023
A Norfolk-based eating disorder charity is calling on the government to set aside funding dedicated to tackle eating disorders.
It's after research from the Royal College of Psychiatrists found there's been a 66% rise in young people receiving urgent eating disorder treatment since 2019.
It also found that all regions in England are failing to meet the government target for when patients should be seen.
The NHS target for children and young people is for 95% of urgent patients to be seen within one week and routine patients to be seen within four weeks following a referral.
Latest NHS estimates for quarter three of 2022/23 suggest 78% of patients are seen within a week and 81% within four weeks against this target.
Full figures from NHS trusts for quarter one of 2022/23 show 68% of patients were seen within a week and 69% within four weeks.
"Raising awareness across the public and in schools"
Jonathan Kelly is BEAT's policy advisor:
"We need to make sure that services can recruit and retain the staff they need when these urgent cases come in.
"But ultimately, we need to make sure that we are intervening at the earliest possible stage, so that's about raising awareness across the public and in schools, along with other settings.
"There has been a major impact from the pandemic, it seems there were certain stresses that affected everyone, particularly young people.
"This came from the disruption to routine, the usual support, coping mechanisms and support networks being stripped away and that uncertainty".
"There are still aspects of stigma and misunderstanding"
"While there has been some progress in recent years around understanding eating disorders, there is still a lot to do.
"There are still aspects of stigma and misunderstanding, and so it's really important that we get messages out there about the severity of eating disorders and helping people spotting them. That means providing more training to health professionals of all kind.
"If these disorders are not properly addressed, they can be fatal. There have been far too many cases where people haven't been able to get the help they need. So it really is a case of lives at risk if we don't see proper intervention".
What has the Government said about all this?
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said:
"We are committed to improving mental health services. Almost £1 billion is being invested in community mental health care for adults, including eating disorders, by 2024 and we're providing an additional £54 million per year in children and young people's community eating disorder services to increase capacity across the country.
"We're also expanding the number of trainees and qualified practitioners able to deliver treatment for people with eating disorders, Health Education England (HEE) has developed training for primary care staff, and the General Medical Council (GMC) is working to improve recognition and treatment of eating disorders."
If you need help with any of the topics mentioned, head to the BEAT website.