Eating Disorders: Mental Health Services
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase day care outpatient provision for the treatment of (a) children, (b) young people and (c) adults with eating disorders.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
NHS England is refreshing guidance on children and young people's eating disorders, to increase the focus on early identification and intervention and to shift away from inpatient care to community-based care models, including day hospitals/outpatient services.
Updated guidance will highlight the importance of improved integration between dedicated community eating disorder services, outpatient day services, wider children and young people's mental health and neurodevelopmental services, schools, colleges and primary care to reduce the need for inpatient stays. The guidance will also improve awareness, provide expert advice and improve support for children and young people presenting with problems with eating, whilst ensuring swift access to specialist support as soon as an eating disorder is suspected.
Since April 2021, all integrated care systems have received fair shares funding to transform their adult community mental health services, including eating disorders. NHS England has also published guidance to support systems with implementing intensive day patient care.
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