More children with eating disorders could reach crisis point if “vital” services across England have their funding cut, leading medics have warned.
Analysis by the Royal College of Psychiatrists suggests many parts of the country could see real-terms spending cuts to eating disorder services.
The college said the planned cuts come as referrals for eating disorder services rise.
It highlighted particular concerns about early access to treatment, saying that any funding cuts could lead to a reduction in important early interventions.
Every child with an eating disorder can be treated effectively if seen early enough, the college said.
Analysis by the college found that 24 out of 42 local health organisations across England have planned changes that could result in real-terms spending cuts totalling more than £835,000 for these services in the current financial year.
It said that, across the 24 regional health organisations, the reductions in funding range from £3,000 to £112,000.
The Royal College of Psychiatrists said cuts to funding could leave more children waiting for treatment and ending up in crisis as it called for the creation of a national strategy for eating disorders in England.
Dr Ashish Kumar, chairman of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Eating Disorders Faculty, said: “Eating disorders, in particular anorexia nervosa, have high rates of mortality, yet are treatable conditions and with the right care and support in a timely manner most patients can make a full recovery.
“However, if these planned cuts come to fruition, it would result in the NHS cutting funding for these vital services in many areas across England.
“There is a significant gap between the children and young people in need of care and those who can access treatment, with many awaiting suitable treatment, and this will only get worse unless we take urgent action to address this crisis.
“We need a national eating disorders strategy that prioritises the recruitment and retention of the mental health workforce. This must be backed by adequate funding so that services have the resources they need to deliver the care our children and young people deserve.”
Tom Quinn, director of external affairs at eating disorder charity Beat, said: “We are extremely concerned at the prospect of funding cuts to children and young people’s eating disorder services.
“These vital services are already on their knees and demand for them has continued to grow over the last few years.
“We are incredibly worried about how existing targets around reducing waiting times for children and young people are going to be met.
“What we need is a massive injection of funding into these services to ensure that all children and young people with eating disorders are receiving the care they desperately need – we urge the NHS to invest in these services, and to prioritise innovative solutions that reduce costs and improve patient outcomes.”
An NHS England spokesman said: “The NHS is clear that improving care for people with eating disorders is vital, with investment, targeted support and training helping to develop community eating disorder teams in all areas in England.
“More work needs to be done, which is why the NHS is updating its guidance on children and young people’s eating disorders and every mental health trust now offers evidence-based early interventions for 16 to 25-year-olds with an eating disorder.”
It comes as new analysis from the Health Foundation suggests there could be a potential funding gap in the future for the NHS if the service does not meet ambitious productivity gains.
The Government has set a 2% productivity growth target for the NHS in England.
But the long-running average is 1%.
Anita Charlesworth, senior economic adviser and co-chairwoman of the Health Foundation’s NHS productivity commission, said: “The Government has set a huge task for the NHS to consistently deliver 2% annual productivity growth.
“Our new analysis underlines how important it is for the NHS to improve productivity and the potential funding shortfall that could emerge if it doesn’t.
“If the NHS is unable to meet the Government’s target then this could create a significant fiscal headache for Government who will be faced with either having to find the money from elsewhere or scale back what the NHS is able to deliver.”
The analysis also highlights issues with capital spending.
To match investment levels of comparable countries and compensate for a decade of low investment, the Health Foundation said that capital spending would need to grow by 10.2% each year between 2024/25 and 2029/30.
Ms Charlesworth added: “Capital spending on new buildings, equipment and technology in the Spending Review will be key to help boost productivity over the long term but reform to create the conditions for boosting productivity is just as vital.”
A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson said: “Children with eating disorders have not been getting the support they deserve, but we are working to fix that.
“We have instructed the NHS to prioritise children and young people’s mental health, announced £7 million for Early Support Hubs to provide mental health support, and will provide every school with access to specialist mental health professionals.
“But clearly there is more to do and we will set out further plans to fix eating disorder services in our 10 Year Health Plan.”
In response to the Health Foundation analysis, the DHSC spokesperson added: “This government inherited a broken NHS with outdated equipment and inefficient processes causing delays in patient care.
“We have set the NHS a tough but achievable target for increasing productivity by 4% next year as well as reducing costs, and we are giving them the tools to do so.
“We are bringing our analogue NHS into the digital age, cutting out millions of pointless and missed appointments, and holding the NHS to account through league tables.”
