Eating Disorder Awareness

Scott Arthur Excerpts

Tuesday 1st April 2025 Westminster Hall

[Dr Scott Arthur (Edinburgh South West) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under you, Mr Stuart. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse). When I was elected last year, I cared about eating disorders, but through her work on the APPG I have really come to understand them much more.

I pay tribute to the secretariat, Hope Virgo—it is almost insulting to describe her as the secretariat, because she is such a powerhouse and really cares about this issue. I made the mistake of doubting the ambition of the APPG but, through the hon. Member for Bath and through Hope, we have made fantastic progress. Through them, I was shocked to find out that people are entering palliative care because of eating disorders. That is a disgrace and a sign that the whole system is failing the people—largely young people—facing this disease. I hope the Minister acknowledges that that is unacceptable.

I am a Scottish MP, so I want to talk a bit about Scotland, where the situation is just as stressed as it is in England, but I will end with a slight glimmer of hope. Since I was elected last July, I have met people in Edinburgh South West who face eating disorders. I met a parent whose daughter had waited months for a consultation. They were filled with hope as the date arrived, only to find out that it was just a triaging slot to decide whether she should be referred to formal treatment months later.

I met a parent whose daughter had been admitted to hospital and was released over a few days to see whether she could cope at home. She could not, but when she was taken back after the weekend, she was told that the bed space had gone, and that left the family in absolute crisis.

I am not surprised that there is pressure on admissions. The number of people admitted in Scotland has increased substantially since 2007, and almost doubled during covid, so the system in Scotland is under real pressure. I spoke to the chief executive of my local NHS board about that, and she described the state of eating disorder treatment in the Lothians as at the absolute minimum acceptable level. I think we know what that means for many families.

I then contacted the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care—Scotland’s equivalent of my right hon. Friend the Member for Ilford North (Wes Streeting), if Members can imagine that—and he replied with lots of talk about frameworks, strategies and something alarming called a flexible funding stream, which did not fill me with too much hope. He outlined that the Scottish Government commissioned a review in 2020, and in 2024 created a template for eating disorder treatment that they can roll out across the country. I am slightly wary about that, because in Scotland we have lots of fantastic policies but implementation is often the issue—[Interruption.] I see Members nodding; they are well aware of that. Just £5 million has been allocated to the implementation of the strategy; none the less, it fills me with hope.

The eating disorder strategy must build on mental health provision for young people that is fit for purpose. In Scotland, about 10% of young people wait more than 18 weeks after referral for their first mental health appointment. The number of young people treated for mental health issues in Scotland has dropped by 15%, so there are massive waiting lists but the treatment pace is dropping. Currently, about 4,000 people are waiting for treatment. This year, this Government set aside the biggest ever settlement for Scotland, and a large amount of that money has rightly been allocated to the NHS. I really hope that some of that money trickles down to mental health provision for young people, and specifically for eating disorders.