Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 22 January (HL12046), what assessment they have made of the reasons for the “poor diagnosis recording in the Mental Health Services Data Set” on incidence of anorexia nervosa among young and adolescent girls under the age of 18 years old; and what steps they are taking to address any such poor diagnosis recording.

Diagnosis recording within the Mental Health Services Data Set (MHSDS) is not mandatory and not all providers submit this information. The recording of diagnoses within the MHSDS is entered using clinical coding which some providers may be unable to do for various reasons. Additionally, a diagnosis may not be confirmed immediately for some patients. There are also other data quality issues around non-completion. Month on month reporting by providers can also be irregular. We are working with NHS Digital, providers and partner organisations to address these issues.