Eating Disorders: Prevention of Deaths

Connor Rand Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd September 2025 Westminster Hall

[Mr Connor Rand (Altrincham and Sale West) (Lab)]

First, I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) on securing this debate and—if he will permit me—on his strength and resilience as a parent.

There have already been many profoundly moving contributions, and I think everyone here understands that the care and support for those with eating disorders, and for their families, are not good enough. The average wait of three and a half years between onset and start of treatment is not acceptable. In the Government’s 10-year plan for the NHS, where we are delivering record investment and groundbreaking reform, we must ensure that eating disorder services are part of that agenda.

There are great services out there, leading the way in showing what change for patients could look like. I am fortunate to have one of those in my constituency. The ABBI eating disorder clinic in Altrincham is an outstanding facility offering specialist day care and intensive out-patient services. It is an alternative to far more costly in-patient care, and in practice it means that patients remain at home with their family support networks around them. That is what patients want and what their families want—and it is what works. Such services change lives and save lives, but they face huge issues with highly fragmented commissioning. This disjointed commissioning creates significant inefficiencies; we need a change in commissioning to ensure proper pathways for patients and early intervention.

In this debate, we must also look at what young people are exposed to online, with one in three adolescents saying that they have engaged in disordered eating behaviours due to social media content. I look forward to hearing the Minister set out in more detail the good work the Government have already done, and what we will be doing to build on that success to prevent tragic deaths caused by eating disorders.