Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what services his Department is providing to people with eating disorders whose (a) outpatient, (b) day patient and (c) intensive outpatient treatment has been paused during the COVID 19 outbreak.

Eating disorder services have not been paused during COVID-19 and are working around the clock to support people with eating disorder issues through the COVID-19 outbreak and beyond. Where people with eating disorders need support, they should contact their general practitioner or local community eating disorder service or mental health crisis service.

Community eating disorder services are deploying innovative digital tools to connect with people and provide ongoing support, assessment and treatment. They are also adapting the delivery of evidence-based therapies, where it is clinically appropriate to do so, to provide ongoing support and treatment and keep people with eating disorders engaged during this time. Guidance has been published to help services manage their capacity and demand for community mental health services during the COVID-19 outbreak.