The vast majority of people who need treatment for an eating
disorder are seen in Wales and treated in their local
communities.
A new team and clinical lead for eating disorders is helping to
drive positive changes to eating disorder care, with a focus on
early intervention.
Over the coming year, a number of health boards will be working
with the clinical lead to explore the introduction of the First
Episode and Rapid Early Intervention in Eating Disorders (FREED)
model, which is targeted at young people aged 16 to 25. Health
boards are already providing early intervention models of care –
support aimed at preventing people from requiring specialist care
and for people waiting for treatment to start.
Waiting times for assessment and treatment have also been reduced
to four weeks in some health boards.
Examples of the new models of care include:
- Cardiff and Vale University Health Board is piloting the Beat
Synergy programme, an early intervention model for people who do
not meet the diagnostic criteria for treatment.
- Aneurin Bevan University Health Board is arranging for
initial telephone assessments to be carried out on the day a
referral is received; speeding up the referral process and time
to treatment and support. This services is also accepting and
providing referrals and intervention for people suffering from
avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID).
- By providing earlier intervention, Betsi Cadwaladr University
Health Board’s specialist eating disorder (SPEED) team has
reduced the number of people with anorexia who need to be
admitted onto general units for care and treatment and reduced
the use of feeding tubes in the community. It is also the first
in Wales to embed paediatrics at the start of a patient’s journey
and the first in the UK to recruit a specialist cardiologist to
provide dedicated paediatric cardiology to all eating disorder
patients.
A review of eating disorder provision, including the provision of
a specialist unit in Wales, is currently being carried out. Eight
adult eating disorder beds have been made available in Wales at a
private facility in Ebbw Vale. This will help more people to be
treated in Wales instead of being sent to units in England.
Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing said:
“Despite rising demand, all health boards in Wales are providing
high-quality treatment for eating disorders for children, young
people and adults.
“I have seen first-hand the hard work of the dedicated teams, and
how the funding from Welsh Government has been used to recruit
more staff and increase capacity within services.
“I expect to see our eating services continue to develop and
improve. We know how important early intervention is in
supporting people and I look forward to seeing these services
progress and improve the lived experiences of people with eating
disorders.”
Emma Hagerty, Eating Disorders Clinical Lead for Aneurin Bevan
University Health Board, said:
“We are passionate about early intervention and continually
improving the services we offer, as our patients are at the heart
of everything we do. As well as accepting referrals directly from
GPs and being able to complete same-day telephone assessments, we
also offer a Monday-Friday advice line for patients, the public
and professionals.
“We have implemented a number of initiatives to provide further
support and person-centred care to patients, including a group
education programme with preparation for change workshops;
multidisciplinary assessment and intervention for ARFID adults;
physical health monitoring to safely assess any risks, and
patient meal support to reduce specialist inpatient admissions.
“We have also expanded our clinical expertise by introducing a
peer mentor and a CAMHS-to-Adult-Mental-Health Transition
Co-ordinator, along with training team members in trauma therapy,
in order to be able to meet the evolving needs of our patients.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
Notes
There is a designated telephone helpline for support with eating
disorders in Wales 0808 801 0433 and email: Waleshelp@beateatingdisorders.org.uk.
Further information is available on the Beat Eating Disorders
website
