Eating Disorders: Children and Young People

(asked on 30th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle the increase in the number of children and young people being admitted to hospital with eating disorders during the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Nadine Dorries Portrait
Nadine Dorries
This question was answered on 12th January 2021

Our aim is to deliver swift access to treatment for 95% of children and young people with a suspected eating disorder within one week for urgent cases and within four weeks for routine cases by April 2021. NHS England has announced the roll out of the first episode rapid early intervention for eating disorders model in 18 sites across the country for young people aged between 16 and 25 years old with eating disorders. This model advocates treatment within two to four weeks and aims to contact patients within 48 hours of referral.

Children and young people’s community eating disorder teams have remained open throughout the pandemic. During the pandemic all teams shifted to digital working including delivering assessments and therapy via online delivery tools when clinically appropriate while maintaining face to face appointments for urgent cases.

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