Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many times a child or young person will need to be referred before receiving treatment, following the introduction of the new access and waiting times standards for children and young people with an eating disorder which come into force in April.

The eating disorder referral to treatment standard states that by 2020, 95% of those referred for assessment or treatment for an eating disorder should receive National Institute for Health and Care Excellence concordant treatment within one week for urgent cases and within 4 weeks for every other case, as published in the Access and Waiting Time Standard for Children and Young People with an Eating Disorder. Therefore, the expectation will be that by 2020, for the great majority of cases, a child or young person will need to be referred only once to services. A copy of Access and Waiting Time Standard for Children and Young People with an Eating Disorder is attached.