MPs urge to treat eating disorders as an emergency

Lives are being lost and families torn apart due to “grossly inadequate care” for people with eating disorders, according to a group of MPs.

The all-party parliamentary group on eating disorders has said in a report that the “alarming” rise in disorders such as anorexia and bulimia over the past decade has now become an “emergency”.

And there is an urgent need for greater awareness of the different types of eating disorders and how they affect men and women of all ages and races.

NHS England acknowledged that services were under extreme pressure, but said all mental-health trusts were now offering prompt support to teenagers and young people.

At the age of 13, Olimata Tal responded to problems at home by depriving herself of food and exercising excessively.

She felt it was the only thing she could control.

“Healthy eating quickly became eating less, eating nothing at all,” says Olimata.

“I remember literally feeling like a shell of a person.

“I remember having to shower several times a day because my body really couldn’t keep itself warm.”

Some teachers suspected something was wrong but failed to intervene.

And when Olimata first saw a GP, she was simply told to “eat a muffin”.

Now 27, Olimata says her mixed Gambian and English heritage has added another layer of complexity to her experience.

“In my experience a big part of African culture is about being strong, being strong-minded,” she says.

“I didn’t see anyone who looked like me struggling with an eating disorder.”

After being diagnosed with anorexia, Olimata received ongoing support from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMS), which “saved her life”, although she still feels “survivor’s guilt”.

But because she didn’t want to lose that support, sometimes she had no encouragement to get better.

MP Spent six months listening to the “harrowing” experiences of patients, bereaved families, physicians and academics.

The report notes that eating disorders are often misunderstood and seen as a lifestyle disorder affecting only white teenage girls.

In fact, these are serious but treatable mental illnesses.

The report cites figures showing the increasing number of people affected:

The report said services are “grossly” underfunded, there are barriers to access to treatment and there are wide variations in the quality of care across the UK.

It demands:

• A national strategy to provide appropriate support to adults, young people, families and health care workers
• Mandatory training so that frontline workers like teachers and nurses can detect various diseases and offer help

“It’s a very good idea,” says Dr Vic Chapman, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist who works for the eating-disorders service run by the Royal Free Hospital in London.

“There is a big gap in the treatment of eating disorders.”

17-year-old Molly Campbell and her family struggled for six years to get a diagnosis Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)Where a person avoids specific types of food.

Dismissed as a picky eater, she was repeatedly refused help from eating disorder services because she did not match more widely understood norms.

“I thought the only way to get help was to eat less, lose more weight, and get more sick,” says Molly.

Without specialist help, her desperate family regularly took Molly to Accident and Emergency with severe chest pain, which doctors said could be caused by her eating habits.

“I was in a dark place with no way out,” says Molly.

But now, with more information about her condition, she is feeling positive and ready to start a new chapter at university in September.

One of the MPs, Labour’s Richard Quigley, has lived through the “nightmare” of watching his own child struggle with an eating disorder.

He says, “To see someone who is talented, funny, and smart look lost and scared because there’s no treatment happening — you feel like you’re failing your child.”

As part of its long-term plans, NHS England says it has invested additional money in improving waiting times for eating-disorder services and £500 per year in the provision of community mental-health care for adults. More than 1 billion is spent.

But Mr Quigley says services are “overstretched”, far more investment is needed, which will save the NHS money in the long term, and specific training should be introduced for GPs, dentists and carers.

“We’re not just talking about half a day of training here,” he says.

“We’re talking about days off throughout the year to fully understand the nuances of not just eating disorders, but different types of eating disorders.”

Claire Murdoch, mental-health director of NHS England, said there was “no doubt” that catering services were “under extreme pressure”, but that more than four in five children and young people who needed urgent treatment , He started it within a week.

“More work needs to be done, which is why every mental-health trust now offers evidence-based early intervention for 16-25-year-olds with eating disorders,” she said.

The report also warns about the dangers of some clinics discharging patients when their body-mass index (BMI) is too low – less than 15 – indicating a serious eating disorder.

Campaigner Hope Virgo is concerned that some people suffering from long-term and complex eating disorders are being seen as “incurable” and “being sent home to die”.

However, some experts say there may be occasions when such patients can be discharged, as long as the appropriate level of intensive community or day-patient care is available.