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 ensure the accurate recording of deaths related to eating disorders; and what steps he is taking with the (a) National Medical Examiner, (b) Office for National Statistics and (c) Coroners' Society of England and Wales to increase understanding of how eating disorders contribute to deaths.

It is important that all deaths are recorded accurately, and it is right that the extent to which eating disorders and other factors have caused or contributed to deaths should be explored further, in collaboration with stakeholders including the National Medical Examiner, the Office for National Statistics, and the Coroners' Society of England and Wales.

The National Medical Examiner’s Good Practice Series No. 7 on mental health and eating disorders, published in June 2022, makes it clear to medical examiners how mental health conditions, including eating disorders, should be recorded on the medical certificate of cause of death. The Good Practice Series No. 7 is available at the following link:

https://www.rcpath.org/resourceLibrary/good-practice-series---mental-health-and-eating-disorders.html