The number of cases of people attending the NHS with serious eating disorders is alarming. In the last six years the cases have nearly doubled.
According to the figures that NHS Digital provided to The Guardian, the final figure for the year ending April 2017 was 13,885. Eating disorders affect mainly women and teenage girls- especially young women in their 20s.
Beat, an eating disorder charity, has expressed their concern at this powerful surge in cases reported. They believe that in the next year calls to their helpline could increase by 10,000.
Evidence also shows that the NHS services in some regions of the country are falling short of meeting the needs of patients with serious and potentially life-threatening eating disorders. There have been cases in which people suffering from an eating disorder have had to relocate to get the help they need.
“It’s deeply concerning that access to high quality comprehensive community and outpatient eating disorder service remains a postcode lottery. In some areas there are excellent services but in others there is very little and there is no standardised offer across the country…”, said Frances Connan, a consultant psychiatrist.
Beat’s director of services, Caroline Price, said: “What is clear is that the system is not working at the moment. What we desperately need is more money put into community services so people can get support close to home when they need it.”
> Naomi Round
