Accessing the right treatment quickly, leads to the best chance of making a full recovery from an eating disorder, and we are pleased to see a focus within the strategy on creating a mental health system that provides earlier support, equity of access to treatment and no wrong door with prevention and early intervention at its core.
While the Welsh Government has repeatedly voiced strong ambitions to improve care for people with eating disorders, this has yet to result in equitable service provision nationwide. We call on the Welsh government to now ensure clear and consistent leadership to deliver the commitments made, at pace, through the development of a national service specification for eating disorder services focused on early intervention. This must be accompanied by a delivery plan with timescales and resource for equitable implementation across the country, ending the post code lottery faced by people and families affected by eating disorders.
We also urge the Welsh Government to ensure that people who require intensive treatment for an eating disorder can do so within their local area by providing equitable access to intensive community and day treatments for eating disorders, and that those requiring an inpatient admission receive safe, quality treatment.
We want to see a mental health system that works for everyone, including people with eating disorders. Ensuring that individuals with lived experience, including families, are meaningfully involved in shaping and improving services at both national and local levels is essential to delivering equitable support and treatment for all.
We look forward to continuing to work alongside Welsh Government, the NHS and other charities to help shape this strategy and support its effective implementation.
Read more about the strategy here.