Westminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I begin by congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) on securing today’s debate and speaking so bravely and movingly about his family. I pay tribute to his work in the all-party parliamentary group on eating disorders, and I know that he and many other hon. Members present have worked tirelessly to advocate for those with eating disorders.
Every death from an eating disorder is a tragedy. We have heard from hon. Members about the devastating effect of these conditions, both for patients and their loved ones. But we must be clear that eating disorders are not terminal illnesses. With the right treatment and support, recovery is possible. Many across the Chamber have made that point, and I pay tribute to everyone who has contributed so powerfully. I also congratulate Arek and Claudia, who I know made outstanding contributions to drafting the speech made by my hon. Friend the Member for Beckenham and Penge (Liam Conlon).
Through the 10-year health plan, the Government will ensure that those living with eating disorders are given the support they need. We will cut waiting times and ensure that people can access treatment and support earlier. Improving eating disorder services is a priority for the Government, and a fundamental part of our work to transform mental health services. Last financial year, we provided £106 million in funding for children’s eating disorder services, an increase of £10 million since 2023-24. That increase in funding is helping our clinicians to support more people, and to change and save lives.
Tom Gordon
One of the great organisations that does a lot of work on the accountability of services, including eating disorder services, is Healthwatch. We know that these organisations are going to be scrapped. They have done loads of valuable work at local and regional levels. What levels of accountability will the new systems put in place for eating disorder services?
Stephen Kinnock
I agree that Healthwatch did some important work, but what we are doing is changing the culture of how our NHS works. As the hon. Gentleman will have seen, we are abolishing NHS England. That is of a piece with our belief that proper leadership, proper accountability and proper management of a complex system such as our NHS, and particularly its interaction with ICBs and trusts, is about having a clear line of accountability from the Secretary of State through Ministers into the system and those operating at the coalface. We believe that if more layers are put between, and cut across, those lines of accountability, that does not actually drive better outcomes—it drives poorer performance. That is the approach we are taking to the entire system.
Wera Hobhouse
As I said, I have been the chair of the APPG for six years, and nothing has changed and got better. I really trust that this Government will make a difference—I hope they will. This is about culture change, but eating disorders are a very complex illness. The APPG has therefore called repeatedly for a dedicated strategy on eating disorders. Will the Minister please look at that?
Stephen Kinnock
I will come on to talk about the guidance that is being produced. There is a risk that we can end up with a proliferation of documents, strategies and plans. Our view is that the more streamlined we are and the clearer the lines of accountability, the better the performance becomes. We are committed to the guidance, and I will talk a bit about that, but we are not convinced that having strategies alongside guidance, plans and other documents will help the process.
Members here will be well aware of the increase in the prevalence of mental health conditions, including eating disorders, since the pandemic. The increase in demand has placed significant pressure on services, but the extra funding is making a difference. The latest quarterly figures from NHS mental health services monthly statistics show that, between April and June 2025, 3,138 children successfully entered treatment in community eating disorder services. That is the highest figure on record since NHS England began collecting this data in 2021.
At the same time, waiting lists to begin routine eating disorder treatment have shortened by 20% from the year before. NHS England has also commissioned the Royal College of Psychiatrists to carry out a national audit of eating disorders. That audit is collecting data on eating disorders across community and in-patient settings to drive improvements in the identification and treatment of eating disorders. The audit will monitor how services are performing against standards, and highlight any inequalities in access to care. That will help services to provide safe, effective, patient-centred, timely, efficient and equitable care.
In addition to improved services for the treatment of eating disorders, we are also working to tackle their underlying causes. In particular, we are deeply concerned about harmful online content that promotes negative body image, harmful eating behaviours, suicide or self-harm to those who are most vulnerable. The Online Safety Act 2023 has now come into force and delivers on our commitment to make the United Kingdom the safest place to be online. By now, all sites with a significant user base in this country are required to have conducted children’s access and risk assessments, and to follow the new children’s safety codes to prevent them from accessing harmful content, such as promotion of eating disorders. Ofcom now has the ability to investigate or carry out enforcement action against any site that will not abide by those codes.
Hon. Members today have raised the need for early intervention to lower the numbers of hospital admissions from eating disorders. We know that the earlier the treatment is provided, the better the chance of recovery, and we are committed to ensuring that everyone with an eating disorder can access specialist help. As part of our mission to build an NHS that is fit for the future, there is a critical need to shift the treatment of eating disorders from hospital to community, including children’s community eating disorder services, crisis care services and intensive day-hospital or home-treatment services. Improved care in the community will give young people early access to evidence-based treatment involving families and carers, thereby improving outcomes and preventing relapse. By preventing eating disorders from progressing into adulthood, we will build on our aim of raising the healthiest generation of children.
We have also committed to expanding mental health support teams to reach full coverage in England. To date, we have expanded MHSTs to 52% of pupils; they are working hard in schools to support staff and students alike in meeting the mental health needs of children.
Dr Luke Evans
I thank the Minister for giving way. I am pleased that his Government have continued the roll-out, because we share the aim of trying to deal with this early. On that point, there was mention of the updated guidance, and clearly these hubs are going to need that guidance if it is updated. Will he set out when that guidance will be brought forward?
Stephen Kinnock
I absolutely will; that is just coming up in my comments. I am not sure that the shadow Minister will be satisfied with the answer, but I will refer precisely to the question that he is asking.
The MHSTs will continue to provide assistance to school staff in raising staff understanding, recognition and awareness of eating disorders, ensuring that they can provide crucial early intervention for children at risk.
Early intervention is also a priority for adults with eating disorders, as set out in the NHS’s adult community mental health framework. NHS England has established 15 provider collaboratives focusing on adult eating disorders. Those collaboratives are working to redesign care pathways and focus resources on community services. By providing treatment earlier and closer to home, we will see better outcomes for adults with eating disorders and their families.
Turning to the guidance, which a number of hon. Members, including the shadow Minister, have raised, we are producing updated guidance to help services to implement those transformations. NHS England first published guidance in 2019 for adult eating disorder services to ensure that they are integrated with day-patient services or in-patient care. A new service specification for adult eating disorder in-patient provision has been through a public consultation and will progress to publication this year. So I can guarantee that it will be published before 1 January, but I cannot give the shadow Minister a precise date.
Stephen Kinnock
Can I come back to the hon. Gentleman on that? I will double-check. My understanding was that this was for both. My notes do say “for adult eating disorder services”, but my understanding was that this was a holistic process that would include children and schools. I will come back to him to confirm that point, so apologies if that is not entirely clear. Actually, I am sorry—it is next in my comments. NHS England is also producing updated national guidance for eating disorders in children and young people. That will reflect the full range of eating disorders in children and young people, and the treatment options available to CYP and their families to address them. It will focus on early identification and intervention, community treatment and support, and it will highlight the importance of integrating schools, colleges and primary care to improve support. Before the hon. Gentleman intervenes, he will have noted, as I have, that there is no specific date for that, so I will come back to him on that. The adult one will be before 1 January.
I would like to address the very serious concerns that have been raised about reports of people with eating disorders being offered end-of-life care. Let me be absolutely clear: these reports are deeply troubling, and I acknowledge the distress that they will have caused to families and all those affected by eating disorders. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has been crystal clear that eating disorders are not terminal illnesses. It has updated its guidance to re-emphasise that important point, so that no person, nor their loved ones, should ever feel that treatment has reached a point of no return.
NHS England is clear that all those with severe, complex or long-standing eating disorders should have access to eating disorder services, including hospital care when needed. A personal recovery model, with a focus on harm minimisation, symptom management and quality of life, is well established in providing hope and opportunities for recovery for many people with eating disorders. English law provides a robust framework for safeguarding a patient’s best interests.
I assure hon. Members that we take these concerns very seriously. We will continue to work with clinicians, NHS England and families to ensure that the highest standards of care are upheld, and that every person is given hope and support in their recovery.
Hon. Members have raised how those with eating disorders are disproportionately at risk of self-harm or suicide. The national suicide prevention strategy has highlighted the increased risk, and is committed to working with policy, clinical and personal experience experts to explore bespoke suicide prevention activity when needed. Specialists in eating disorders must ensure that they take a holistic approach to eating disorder treatment, and ensure that they are not likely to inadvertently increase the risk of suicide.
Several hon. Members, as well as the APPG report published in January this year, have raised the creation of a national register for eating disorder deaths, and the holding of a confidential inquiry into all eating disorder deaths. I reassure colleagues that the Department of Health and Social Care is wholeheartedly committed to learning from deaths, in order to prevent future tragedies and to improve quality of care.
The Department receives and responds to prevention of future deaths—PFD—notices relating to eating disorders, and it uses that work to inform practice going forward. For example, the medical emergencies in eating disorders—MEED—guidance was created following a coroner’s report and has since been rolled out nationwide. This Government are determined to focus funding directly to frontline services, in order to best support those currently struggling with this deadly illness.
Similarly, we share the concerns that have been raised about eating disorder deaths not being accurately recorded. It is vital that the extent to which eating disorders have caused or contributed to deaths is properly known. That matter is currently being explored with the national medical examiner for England and Wales, the Office for National Statistics and the Coroners’ Society of England and Wales.
To draw my remarks to a close, I would like to thank all the hon. Members here today. The fact that the debate was so well attended reflects how important the issue is to all of us and our constituents. The service that we provide can often be a matter of life and death. We are all very conscious of the gravity of the responsibility that we hold in that context. I thank all those in attendance for advocating for their constituents and all those across the country who have been affected by an eating disorder.