Treatment for eating disorders reaches new heights

A record number of children and young people with a potentially life-threatening eating disorder are waiting for treatment.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists has analysed NHS data and reported that while the number of those waiting for urgent and routine treatment has reached record levels during the pandemic, more children and young people are being treated than ever before.

The analysis found that there were 207 patients waiting for urgent treatment at the end of the first quarter of 2021, up from 56 at the same time last year. A further 1,832 patients were waiting for routine treatment, up from 441 at the same time last year. And 852 patients received urgent treatment, compared to 328 in the first quarter of 2020/21.

An estimated 1.25 million people have an eating disorder in the UK and they can be complex and life-threatening mental illnesses. Disordered eating behaviours include limiting food consumption, eating large amounts of food, purging, fasting or excessive exercise in response to eating, or a combination of these.

Agnes Ayton, chair of the Faculty of Eating Disorders Psychiatry, at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said that the pandemic has disrupted children’s lives and many young people have been unable to seek help for an eating disorder early enough, meaning their condition deteriorated.

She said: “Delays to treatment can put lives at risk. Services are struggling with soaring demand, fewer beds because of social distancing, and an ongoing shortage of specialist doctors. The government made an ambitious commitment on waiting times, but the pandemic has set us back years. Urgent action is needed to ensure children and young people with eating disorders get the help they need when they need it.”