Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on waiting lists for treatment for eating disorders.

Between October 2024 to December 2024, 80.8%, or 350 out of 433, of urgent referrals to Children and Young People’s Eating Disorders services were seen within one week, and 81.9%, or 2,064 out of 2,521, of routine referrals were seen within four weeks. Data on access and waiting times is not published for adult eating disorders due to concerns about data quality.

NHS England is continuing to expand the capacity of community-based eating disorder services, including crisis care and intensive home treatment, to improve outcomes and recovery, reduce rates of relapse, and to prevent eating disorders continuing into adulthood.

NHS England has asked local health systems, through this year’s National Health Service operational planning guidance, to focus on improving performance against the waiting time standards for children’s eating disorder services, so that 95% of urgent cases are seen within one week and 95% of routine cases are seen within four weeks.