Policy and Public Affairs Manager
The theme of this year’s Eating Disorders Awareness Week is ‘anyone can be affected’. The charity BEAT estimates that at least 1.25 million people in the UK are living with an eating disorder. But despite growing awareness, significant challenges remain in making sure treatment is easy to access, timely and effective.
Driving change forward
We raised concerns about the treatment of eating disorders in our Ignoring the Alarms report in 2017. Since then, we’ve worked closely with campaigners, parliamentary groups and NHS England so lessons from the report and other investigations reach more national decision-makers and lead to meaningful change.
Our report is recognised as a crucial moment in exposing serious failings in eating disorder services. It called for:
- increased awareness through mandatory training for all doctors
- greater access and quality care across adult, child and adolescent services
- better coordination across multiple service providers
- a system that learns from serious mistakes to prevent future harm.
Since it was published, NHS England, alongside Royal Colleges, regulators and experts, has made important progress towards implementing these recommendations.
But nearly eight years on, urgent action is still needed to remove barriers preventing people with eating disorders from accessing the care they deserve, regardless of where they live.
The right to health: a call for action
In a welcome move, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Eating Disorders, made up of MPs and Members of the House of Lords, recently launched their report, The Right to Health. The report examines the state of eating disorder services and the challenges of accessing specialist care across the country. It calls for:
- a national strategy
- increased funding (including for research)
- a confidential inquiry into eating disorder-related deaths
- stronger oversight of hospital and Trust Boards.
Prioritising safe and effective care
The APPG heard tragic stories about people with an eating disorder being admitted in and out of mental health care without appropriate follow-up plans. They also heard stories of repeated admissions to A&E for people in crisis.
Another report we published on safe discharge from mental health care, identified three core pillars for delivering people-centred care that would help resolve these issues. These are:
- involving patients, families and carers in decision-making and discharge planning
- clear communication between all health, care and community professionals involved in treatment
- good record-keeping and information-sharing throughout the discharge or transfer process.
Above all, we argued that the goal of any discharge pathway must be about recovery. This means making sure people move into care settings where they are supported to live better lives. At a minimum, discharge should focus on people, not just process.
These principles are especially relevant when diagnosing, treating and supporting individuals with eating disorders. First and foremost, this means listening to those with lived experience and recognising the important role of families, loved ones and carers. It also means supporting skilled and dedicated professionals who go above and beyond to provide care in hospitals, community services and home settings.
Turning awareness into action
In March 2024, we wrote to the Minister for Mental Health calling on Government and the NHS to make quality eating disorder care and treatment a priority, and put a stop to patient safety paying the price of inaction.
Timely and early access to effective treatment and support is key to saving lives for people with an eating disorder. We must continue to hold the Government and NHS leaders accountable by sharing what we learn from complaints and the stories of those let down by overstretched services. Only through concrete and swift action can we achieve real progress in eating disorder care for all.
