Baroness Parminter

The Department has worked with NHS England to produce various guidance for integrated care systems (ICSs) to plan and deliver eating disorder services, and to provide treatment for patients with longstanding eating disorders.

NHS England published guidance in 2019 for adult eating disorder services, to support delivery of community eating disorder services, reduce admissions, length-of-stay and improve outcomes for users, families and carers. A revised service specification for Adult Eating Disorder inpatient provision has just been through public consultation, and following a review of the comments received will progress to publication in 2025.

NHS England is currently producing new national guidance for eating disorders in children and young people, to update and replace the previous commissioning guidance for the Access and Waiting Time Standard for Children and Young People with an Eating Disorder.

NHS England also worked with the Royal College of Psychiatrists to produce guidance on managing medical emergencies in eating disorders amongst young people and adults.

ICSs also have access to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines which sets out best practice for commissioners and providers for identifying and treating eating disorders.

In addition to this guidance, all ICSs have received support via fair shares funding since April 2021 to transform their adult community mental health services. This includes the transformation and expansion of eating disorder services. For children and young people, additional long term plan funding was made available for systems, rising to £54 million from 2023/24 and with further funding in 2024/25 to support increasing capacity in community eating disorder services.

The Department has worked with NHS England to produce various guidance for integrated care systems (ICSs) to plan and deliver eating disorder services, and to provide treatment for patients with longstanding eating disorders.

NHS England published guidance in 2019 for adult eating disorder services, to support delivery of community eating disorder services, reduce admissions, length-of-stay and improve outcomes for users, families and carers. A revised service specification for Adult Eating Disorder inpatient provision has just been through public consultation, and following a review of the comments received will progress to publication in 2025.

NHS England is currently producing new national guidance for eating disorders in children and young people, to update and replace the previous commissioning guidance for the Access and Waiting Time Standard for Children and Young People with an Eating Disorder.

NHS England also worked with the Royal College of Psychiatrists to produce guidance on managing medical emergencies in eating disorders amongst young people and adults.

ICSs also have access to National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines which sets out best practice for commissioners and providers for identifying and treating eating disorders.

In addition to this guidance, all ICSs have received support via fair shares funding since April 2021 to transform their adult community mental health services. This includes the transformation and expansion of eating disorder services. For children and young people, additional long term plan funding was made available for systems, rising to £54 million from 2023/24 and with further funding in 2024/25 to support increasing capacity in community eating disorder services.

The following table shows the number of inpatient beds for eating disorder patients:

Source: NHS England

Notes: The data provided represents the total number of commissioned beds for CAMHS Eating Disorder and Adult Eating Disorder services. The figures are broken down by region and include any beds commissioned outside of England.

The information requested is held by NHS England, but it is management information and is not centrally validated.

Legislation requiring large businesses in England, namely those with 250 or more employees, to display calorie information on non-prepacked food and soft drinks came into force in 2022. It aims to support consumers to make healthier choices for themselves and their families when eating out or getting a takeaway, with clear information about calorie content of potential purchases. It may also encourage businesses to reformulate and provide lower calorie options, helping to create a healthier food environment.

The published impact assessment, which included a summary of the evidence, estimated that by lowering calorie consumption amongst people living with overweight or obesity, the policy would produce savings to the National Health Service of £430 million and social care savings of £477 million over 25 years.

We continue to evaluate the impact of the Out of Home Calorie Labelling Regulations and have commissioned studies through the National Institute for Health and Care Research which includes an evaluation to understand the impact of the rules, including on people living with eating disorders.

We will publish a post-implementation review within five years of implementation which will consider the effectiveness of the policy and will include a review of relevant scientific studies.