Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of access to specialist in-patient services for young people with eating disorders in (a) Rotherham and (b) England.

Specialist children and young people’s mental health in-patient services, including for those with eating disorders, are available for people living in Rotherham from mental health providers within the Yorkshire and Humber region, including Sheffield Children’s Hospital, Riverdale Grange in Sheffield and the recently opened Inspire facility at Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust. Additional in-patient beds are due to open in West Yorkshire in December 2021.

We have announced extra funding for eating disorder services in 2021/22 to enable an additional 2,000 children and young people nationally to receive the support they need in the community. We recognise that it is preferable for a young person to stay in the community and at home to receive their support and treatment via the local community team rather than an in-patient admission, wherever possible.