Record numbers of children with eating disorders left waiting for NHS help

Experts call for urgent action to tackle growing problem of eating disorders among young people

The waiting time for urgent cases has tripled in a year (Getty)

The number of children being treated by the NHS for eating disorders has reached record levels, with waiting times for urgent cases tripling in a year.

Experts have warned the Covid pandemic has set back treatment for young people “by years” and could leave lives at risk.

The Royal College of Psychiatrists said services were struggling to provide timely treatment in the face of “overwhelming” demand.

An analysis of NHS data by the college, comparing April, May and June this year to the same months in 2020, found the number of under 19-year-olds waiting for urgent treatment has more than tripled from 56 in 2020 to 207 in 2021.

The number of young people waiting for routine treatment had quadrupled from 441 patients to 1,832.

For those starting urgent treatment, the number of patients being seen hit a record 852 compared with 328 a year ago. The number of children starting routine treatment almost doubled from 1,347 to 2,600 patients – the highest level on record.

Dr Agnes Ayton, the chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Faculty of Eating Disorders Psychiatry, said: “The pandemic has had a huge impact on children and young people with disruption to their schooling, social lives and home lives.

“Many young people have not received support early enough, causing their eating disorders to become much worse and harder to treat.

“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.”

An estimated 1.25 million people have an eating disorder in the UK. Behaviours include limiting food consumption, eating large amounts of food, purging, fasting and excessive exercise in response to eating, or a combination of these, the Royal College of Psychiatrists said.

The government has committed the NHS to ensuring 95 per cent of under-19s receive treatment within one week for urgent cases and within four weeks for routine cases by the end of March this year.

Dr Ayton added: “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.”

Claire Murdoch, the national director for mental health in England, said: “The pandemic has taken its toll on the country’s mental health and staff have responded rapidly to treat children and young people with eating disorders.

“Thanks to additional funding of £79m this year on top of dedicated services already rolled out in every part of the country, the NHS has treated more people with an eating disorder than ever before.”