Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what additional funding his Department plans to allocate to the NHS to ensure the commencement of the NHS pilot of a four-week waiting time target for adult eating disorder treatment.

The NHS Long Term Plan committed at least a further £2.3 billion a year to mental health services by 2023/24. This investment will transform and expand services for people with mental health conditions, including eating disorders, building on our current targets.

Within the NHS Long Term Plan ambitions, the Clinical Review of NHS Access Standards aims to “test four-week waiting times for adult and older adult community mental health teams, with selected local areas”. The waiting times pilot will be funded from the additional commitment made in the NHS Long Term Plan. More information will be available when the National Implementation Plan is published.