Why more children in UK are receiving treatment for eating disorders
Royal College of Psychiatrists’ analysis shows all regions in England are failing to meet the government target for when patients should be seen.
There has been a 66 per cent rise in children and young people receiving urgent eating disorder treatment since 2019, a Royal College study has warned.
Analysis of data by the Royal College of Psychiatrists also found a rise in people seeking help, with large numbers of those being children and teenagers.
Its workings show that all regions in England are failing to meet the government target for when patients should be seen.
The NHS target for children and young people is for 95 per cent of urgent patients to be seen within one week and routine patients to be seen within four weeks following a referral.
Latest NHS estimates for quarter three of 2022/23 suggest 78 per cent of patients are seen within a week and 81 per cent within four weeks against this target.
Full figures from NHS trusts for quarter one of 2022/23 show 68 per cent of patients were seen within a week and 69 per cent within four weeks.
Overall, the number of children and young people receiving urgent care has gone up by 66 per cent for quarter one since 2019 – from 318 to 529 in quarter one of 2022/23.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists said eating disorder services in England have been “flooded” with referrals for children and young people over the past three years, with around 50 per cent more patients overall – both routine and urgent – requiring specialist services.
The college warned there is a postcode lottery of care, with patients forced into long waits and at risk of becoming severely ill before starting treatment.
It is calling for more staff, with an increase in medical school places to 15,000 by 2028/29.
It also wants support for NHS trusts to meet an annual 4 per cent improvement target in retaining mental health staff.
Admissions have been sharply rising since even before the pandemic, under-19s now account for 30% of hospital stays for eating disorders, with no sign of abating
Dr Agnes Ayton, chairwoman of the eating disorder faculty at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: “It’s simply not acceptable that waiting times have increased when we are seeing record levels of referrals for children and young people.
“This is a warning that we gave three years ago and it beggars belief that nothing has changed.
“Admissions have been sharply rising since even before the pandemic, under-19s now account for 30 per cent of hospital stays for eating disorders, with no sign of abating.
“We know that delays cause patients to become even more unwell, with potentially life-threatening consequences.
“Overstretched services are already struggling to meet demand, so how can we continue to subject these children and young people to a postcode lottery?”
The figures come after data obtained by the PA news agency in January showed a dramatic rise in the number of children needing treatment for serious mental health problems including eating disorders.
There has been a 39 per cent rise in a year in referrals for NHS mental health treatment for under-18s, to more than a million (1,169,515) in 2021/22.
This compares with the previous year 2020/21 – pandemic year – when the figure was 839,570. In 2019/20 there were 850,741 referrals.
Meanwhile, NHS Digital data analysed by PA showed hospital admissions for eating disorders are rising among children and young people.
Among under-18s, there were 7,719 admissions in 2021/22, up from 6,079 the previous year and 4,232 in 2019/20 – an 82 per cent rise across two years.
From April to October 2022 – the most recent data available – there were 3,456 admissions, up 38 per cent from 2,508 for the same period in 2019, before the pandemic.