Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of health services available to children with avoidant restrictive food intake disorder in Gloucester constituency.

The Department does not routinely make assessments of the effectiveness of health services at a constituency level, and has therefore not made an assessment of the effectiveness of health services available to children with avoidant restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) in Gloucester. The planning and delivery of National Health Services are the responsibility of local integrated care boards, which assess the needs of their local populations and commission services accordingly.

NHS England continues to work with eating disorder services and local commissioners to improve access to assessment and treatment for all children and young people with a suspected eating disorder, including those presenting with ARFID. Lessons from previous pilots commissioned to improve access to support and develop training on ARFID has contributed to this work. In January 2026, NHS England also updated guidance on children and young people’s eating disorders, including ARFID, that seeks to strengthen early identification and intervention of eating disorders, whilst ensuring swift access to specialist community eating disorder services as soon as an eating disorder is suspected.

Community children and young people’s eating disorder services across England provide assessment and treatment for eating disorders, including ARFID, and local areas are able to commission training and adapt care pathways to ensure services meet the needs of patients with this condition.