Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2025 to Question 93580 on Eating Disorders: Mental Health Services, which external stakeholders his Department is engaging with in the development of the modern service framework for mental health.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to publish the modern service framework for severe mental illness in the latter half of 2026.
Engagement on the modern service framework will involve a wide range of stakeholders, such as people with lived experience, clinicians, allied professionals, social workers, the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, commissioners, and National Health Service Leaders. We have recruited a third Co-Chair for the Modern Service Framework, Jo Lomani, who is a national mental health co-production lead and expert by lived and living experience, to support the implementation of our lived-experience involvement and co-production strategy. This aims to ensure that people who use mental health services stay at the centre of everything we do.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2025 to Question 93580 on Eating Disorders: Mental Health Services, when the Government expects to publish the modern service framework for mental health.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government plans to publish the modern service framework for severe mental illness in the latter half of 2026.
Engagement on the modern service framework will involve a wide range of stakeholders, such as people with lived experience, clinicians, allied professionals, social workers, the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, commissioners, and National Health Service Leaders. We have recruited a third Co-Chair for the Modern Service Framework, Jo Lomani, who is a national mental health co-production lead and expert by lived and living experience, to support the implementation of our lived-experience involvement and co-production strategy. This aims to ensure that people who use mental health services stay at the centre of everything we do.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to WPQ 89628 answered on 20 November 2025, whether his Department plans to set targets regarding the improvement of community care for young people with eating disorders.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Eating disorders have a devastating impact on young people’s lives and Lord Darzi’s investigation found that people accessing National Health Service mental health services are waiting too long, receive variable quality of care, and suffer from entrenched inequalities. This Government has already taken significant steps to stabilise and improve NHS mental health services but there is much more to do.
Although there are currently no plans to set targets regarding the improvement of community care for young people with eating disorders, more young people are being supported to access NHS mental health services. Between July and September 2025, 3,010 young people with eating disorder issues entered treatment, which is an increase of 14% compared to the same period last year. This is helped by almost 7,000 extra mental health workers being recruited since July 2024, against our target of 8,500 by the end of this Parliament.
The 10-Year Health Plan aims to shift more care to the community and reform the health system, including eating disorder services, to adopt more neighbourhood models of working where cross-sector collaboration is the norm.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the longest inpatient stays were for mental health patients in each age group discharged in 2025.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The information requested for the latest available period (1 January to 30 June 2025) is in the table below. Counts below 5 are suppressed using an asterisk.
Age Band at Discharge | Bed Type at Discharge1 | Total Number of Discharges | Longest hospital stay (days)2 |
0 to 17 | Child and Young Person Learning Disabilities | 945 | 2,968 |
0 to 17 | Unknown3 | 400 | 2,385 |
0 to 17 | Acute Mental Health Unit for Adults with a Learning Disability and/or Autism | * | 2,033 |
0 to 17 | General Child and Young Person Young Person (13 years up to and including 17 years) | 930 | 853 |
0 to 17 | Child and Young Person Low Secure Mental Illness | * | 699 |
0 to 17 | Eating Disorders Child and Young Person | 135 | 662 |
0 to 17 | General Child and Young Person Child (up to and including 12 years) | 240 | 609 |
0 to 17 | Child and Young Person Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit | 110 | 563 |
0 to 17 | Adult Low Secure | 5 | 392 |
0 to 17 | Adult Eating Disorders | * | 200 |
0 to 17 | Child Mental Health Services for the Deaf | * | 114 |
0 to 17 | Acute Adult Mental Health Care | 30 | 59 |
0 to 17 | Child and Young Person Medium Secure Mental Illness | * | 43 |
0 to 17 | Adult Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (Acute Mental Health Care) | * | 42 |
0 to 17 | Adult Mental Health Rehabilitation (Mainstream Service) | 5 | 4 |
0 to 17 | Adult Neuro-Psychiatry / Acquired Brain Injury | 10 | 3 |
18 to 64 | Adult High Secure | 55 | 10,514 |
18 to 64 | Adult Medium Secure | 380 | 7,897 |
18 to 64 | Adult Mental Health Rehabilitation (Mainstream Service) | 1,360 | 6,785 |
18 to 64 | Unknown3 | 2,950 | 6,666 |
18 to 64 | Acute Mental Health Unit for Adults with a Learning Disability and/or Autism | 730 | 6,199 |
18 to 64 | Adult Low Secure | 420 | 5,916 |
18 to 64 | Acute Older Adult Mental Health Care (Organic and Functional) | 555 | 5,381 |
18 to 64 | Adult Neuro-Psychiatry / Acquired Brain Injury | 160 | 5,250 |
18 to 64 | Acute Adult Mental Health Care | 30,905 | 3,920 |
18 to 64 | Adult Mental Health Rehabilitation for Adults with a Learning Disability and/or Autism (Specialist Service) | 155 | 3,763 |
18 to 64 | Child and Young Person Learning Disabilities | 30 | 2,956 |
18 to 64 | Adult Personality Disorder | 10 | 2,701 |
18 to 64 | Adult Mental Health Services for the Deaf | 20 | 1,892 |
18 to 64 | Eating Disorders Child and Young Person | 35 | 1,538 |
18 to 64 | General Child and Young Person Child (up to and including 12 years) | * | 1,414 |
18 to 64 | Adult Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (Acute Mental Health Care) | 2,580 | 1,181 |
18 to 64 | Adult Eating Disorders | 390 | 943 |
18 to 64 | Child and Young Person Low Secure Mental Illness | 5 | 876 |
18 to 64 | General Child and Young Person Young Person (13 years up to and including 17 years) | 35 | 693 |
18 to 64 | Child and Young Person Medium Secure Mental Illness | * | 600 |
18 to 64 | Mother and Baby | 465 | 285 |
18 to 64 | Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Body Dysmorphic Disorder - Young Person | 5 | 245 |
18 to 64 | Child and Young Person Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit | 10 | 188 |
65+ | Adult Mental Health Rehabilitation (Mainstream Service) | 195 | 8,768 |
65+ | Adult Low Secure | 20 | 6,361 |
65+ | Adult Neuro-Psychiatry / Acquired Brain Injury | 45 | 6,167 |
65+ | Acute Older Adult Mental Health Care (Organic and Functional) | 5,705 | 5,671 |
65+ | Adult Medium Secure | 15 | 4,960 |
65+ | Acute Mental Health Unit for Adults with a Learning Disability and/or Autism | 15 | 2,606 |
65+ | Acute Adult Mental Health Care | 1,055 | 1,832 |
65+ | Adult Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (Acute Mental Health Care) | 30 | 1,576 |
65+ | Unknown3 | 125 | 1,195 |
65+ | Adult Mental Health Services for the Deaf | * | 534 |
65+ | Adult Mental Health Rehabilitation for Adults with a Learning Disability and/or Autism (Specialist Service) | 5 | 514 |
65+ | Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Body Dysmorphic Disorder - Young Person | * | 310 |
65+ | Adult Eating Disorders | 10 | 260 |
65+ | General Child and Young Person Child (up to and including 12 years) | * | - |
Data source: Mental Health Services Dataset, NHS England
1 Bed type is the bed that the patient was in when they were discharged.
2 The length of stay is the patient’s total length of stay during the hospital spell.
3 Where a patient’s bed type is not recorded or cannot be matched to a valid value, the bed type is recorded as unknown.
Asked by: Cameron Thomas (Liberal Democrat - Tewkesbury)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to include provisions relating to the treatment and care of people with eating disorders in the forthcoming modern service framework for mental health.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The exact scope of the modern service framework for people with severe mental illness is currently under development with external stakeholders, but we expect that it will include care and treatment for people with eating disorders.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which Minister in his Department is responsible for eating disorder services.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women’s Health and Mental Health (Baroness Merron) has ministerial responsibility for eating disorder services.
Asked by: Richard Holden (Conservative - Basildon and Billericay)
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 eating disorders among teenagers and young adults.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
As part of our mission to build a National Health Service that is fit for the future, there is a critical need to shift the treatment of eating disorders from hospital to the community. Improved care in the community will give young people early access to evidence-based treatment involving families and carers, improving outcomes and preventing relapse.
NHS England is currently working to improve children’s community eating disorder services. Improved care in the community will give young people early access to evidence-based treatment involving families and carers, improving outcomes and preventing relapse. By preventing eating disorders from progressing to adulthood, we will help deliver our aim to raise the healthiest generation of children ever.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with NICE on (a) reviewing and (b) updating (i) clinical guidelines and (ii) guidance on diagnosing Type 1 Diabetes and Eating Disorders.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an independent body and is responsible for determining whether its guidelines should be reviewed or updated in the light of new evidence. NICE takes a proactive approach to surveillance, monitoring for changes in the evidence base that may impact on its recommendations. Topics for new or updated guidance are considered through the NICE prioritisation process. Decisions as to whether NICE will create new, or update existing, guidance are overseen by a prioritisation board, chaired by NICE’s chief medical officer.
NICE’s guidelines on the diagnosis and management of type 1 diabetes in adults, with the reference code NG17, diabetes, including both type 1 and type 2, in children and young people, with the reference code NG18, and the recognition and treatment of eating disorders, with the reference code NG69, will be reviewed if there is new evidence that is likely to change the recommendations. NICE currently has no plans to update NG17, NG18, or NG69.
Asked by: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will have discussions with his international counterparts on the potential merits of creating an international symposium of experts on Type 1 Diabetes and Eating Disorders to (a) share best practice and (b) agree consensus guidance on diagnosis and treatment.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are regular opportunities for ministers to meet with their international colleagues on a range of health issues to discuss best practice and learning. For this reason, there are no current plans to arrange a specific symposium on diabetes.
NHS England will continue its type 1 diabetes and disordered eating (T1DE) pilots, which have demonstrated that integrating diabetes and other health services, including mental health services, can significantly enhance the quality of life for people with T1DE and ultimately save lives.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department have made of potential (a) savings to the NHS and (b) improved or increased quality of life for patients from the early diagnosing of people with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has not made a specific assessment of the potential savings to the National Health Service or the improvements in quality of life arising from the early diagnosis of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).
However, early identification and intervention are recognised as key to improving outcomes for people with eating disorders, reducing the risk of deterioration and the need for more intensive treatment later on. NHS England continues to work with commissioners and providers to ensure timely access to assessment and treatment for all individuals with suspected eating disorders, including ARFID.