Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to increase (a) diagnosis, (b) treatment and (c) support for people suffering from eating disorders in the UK.

We have announced that in 2021/22 the National Health Service will receive approximately an additional £500 million, which will support people with a variety of mental health conditions, including eating disorders. Of this extra funding, £79 million will be used to significantly expand children’s mental health services, including allowing 2,000 more children and young people to access eating disorder services. £58 million will be allocated to accelerate the adult community support to bring forward the expansion of integrated primary and secondary care for adults with severe mental illness, including eating disorders. In addition, NHS England has announced additional early intervention services for young people aged 16 to 25 years old with eating disorders in 18 areas across the country, so young adults seeking support could be contacted within 48 hours and begin treatment within two weeks.

In addition, the Department is working with NHS England and NHS Improvement, Health Education England and other partners to procure eating disorder training courses that will improve understanding and identification of this condition and increase the capacity of the existing workforce to allow them to provide evidence-based treatment to more people.