Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the financial costs incurred by the NHS as a result of (a) increased severity of illness, (b) long-term development of physical health implications and (c) A&E admissions in the event that there have been delays in providing treatment to people with eating disorders.

We have made no central estimate. NHS England and NHS Improvement continue to closely monitor trends in demand for adult and children and young people’s eating disorder treatment across both inpatient and community settings. Under the NHS Long Term Plan, we continue to invest in eating disorder services and we have announced additional funding for financial year 2021/22 to expedite expansion of services for both adults and children and young people.