Backbench business

Alison McGovern Excerpts

Thursday 14th February 2013 Westminster Hall

[Caroline Nokes]

One of the messages that I have received from parents is that they already feel enormous guilt, in some instances completely unjustifiably. They feel shame for what is going on with their child, and as if they are somehow to blame. They are not, and I find that in the majority of cases, parents were the fastest to identify the condition. They instinctively knew that something was wrong with their child, even though they might not have been able to put their finger on what exactly it was. I have heard some terrible tales from parents, which I will come on to—I assure you, Mrs Osborne, I am getting towards the end—about the responsibility and burden placed on them. I have even heard about parents who have been told that it is their fault. It simply is not.

We do not fully understand what causes eating disorders; it is complicated. All the parents I have spoken to have done the most fantastic job in supporting their children. As one sufferer’s mother said to me on the phone just yesterday, there is nothing that she would not have sacrificed to get her daughter the help that she needed. Had the mother been able to buy private health care, she would have sold her house to do it, so desperate was she for her daughter to get well.

I know how long sufferers have had to wait to gain admission to April House—something that has been emphasised to me incredibly strongly—and the picture from around the country is that the average wait from diagnosis to treatment in a specialist unit can be as long as nine months. For sufferers, that is simply far too long. As we move from primary care trusts to clinical commissioning groups, it is imperative that awareness of the scale of the problem is uppermost in the minds of GPs, who will be responsible for commissioning the relevant services.

I have mentioned briefly one significant theme, but I would like to mention it again. It is a message that has come from the parents about the impact on families. The effects are many and varied, and certainly include huge feelings of guilt and despair, and lack of comprehension of why this has happened to their child, or why an individual might choose to deprive themselves of the necessary nutrition to lead a healthy life.

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

I apologise to the hon. Lady, who is making a brilliant case on behalf of the sufferers of eating disorders, for intervening on an excellent speech. Given the shame and guilt she has mentioned, which are big factors, does she agree that it is fantastic that constituents of mine have got in touch with me to ask me to attend this debate? All of us have constituents who have got in touch with us on this issue and have talked about their experiences. Their coming forward helps to dispel some of those feelings, and some of the myths and rumours surrounding these conditions. Will she congratulate them with me?

[Caroline Nokes]

I thank the hon. Lady for that intervention. One word that keeps being used is “stigma”. She is absolutely right to highlight the bravery of individuals, some of whom were perfectly happy to be named; when I told Katie Waters that I wanted to quote her, she was over the moon that I was going to quote her in Parliament. Others did not want to be named but still wanted to tell their story. They have all been phenomenally brave, including those in this place who have contacted me and talked about their personal stories.

I have had mothers contact me to tell me that when their child was diagnosed with an eating disorder, they were accused of abusing their child. The assumption was made that they must have harmed their child for her or him to have developed an eating disorder. I am not saying that that never happens, but from my experience, the parents and families of people with eating disorders have been caring, loving, supportive, desperate for knowledge and help, and in many cases prepared to sacrifice absolutely everything for their family member to be well again. I therefore pay tribute to charities such as Beat and ABC, which have recognised that this is not a condition of the individual, but affects entire families, wider networks, friends and colleagues.

Beat is working in partnership with Student Run Self Help, which runs a number of support groups in universities throughout the country. Both organisations have heard of a number of cases in which students have not been able to access treatment, or have been able to access only intermittent treatment, due to a lack of co-ordination and flexibility on the part of GPs and eating disorder treatment services at their university and in their home location. They have asked me specifically to highlight to the Minister the serious problem with 18-year-olds going off to university. We know that people are most likely to develop an eating disorder at 17, so that is a vulnerable age.

What sufferers need above all else is continuity and stability of treatment, which Beat originally thought could be achieved by enabling people to register with two GPs at one time. However, after consideration was given to who would have overall financial and clinical responsibility for the patient, discussion turned to the proposal that the home GP could have those responsibilities. This should encourage greater communication between the home GP and the GP with whom the student is registered as a temporary patient at university. In addition, it is likely to be argued that the student should be able to register with more than one eating disorders unit—one at home and one at university—so that they can receive the necessary care during both term time and the holidays.

I am conscious that other Members wish to speak and my contribution has been somewhat lengthy, so I shall conclude my remarks with a tribute to one of my constituents, whom I first met at April House this time last year. She has gone out of her way to keep in touch with updates about what she is doing to raise awareness of eating disorders. She has certainly improved my knowledge and understanding, and is shortly to take part in a charity sky-dive to raise funds for eating disorders awareness. What struck me about Becky was her willingness to open up about her battle with anorexia and some of the stark truths.

Hampshire is a fortunate county, with excellent schools and sixth-form colleges. Even in schools and colleges rated as excellent, however, eating disorders can flourish. Transition from school to college can be difficult for many, and at times of change, stress and pressure, eating disorders can frequently manifest themselves. Even where teachers and head teachers are good, concerned and caring, and where pastoral care is superb, young people can fall victim to these disorders. I hope that in some small way this debate has helped to raise awareness and understanding in this place. I sincerely thank all those in the Public Gallery for attending, and I thank colleagues for their contributions this afternoon.