Campaigners hail cash boost to help victims of eating disorders

NHS Hull is expanding the service, providing intensive home treatment for sufferers for the first time, as well as day services and family group treatments.

Every year there are an estimated 30 new cases of anorexia and 50 of bulimia.

Assistant director of learning disability and mental health Keith Baulcombe said: "Of the spectrum of mental health conditions anorexia is the one most likely to prove fatal if untreated. The service we have in place is a good one and you don't want a good service to buckle under the weight of demand. We have skills and expertise locally and we want to supplement them."

The tender for the new service, currently run by the City Health Care Partnership, was delayed for a report by health watchdog LINk, which found a "high" level of dissatisfaction amongst users and called for improvements including the setting up of a specialist local centre.

Every year around two or three patients with the most serious cases of anorexia are sent away for treatment to Leeds, Sheffield, York and London. Costing around 450 a day, with stays lasting between three and six months, and sometimes longer, the final bill can be vast. However Mr Baulcombe said numbers were too low to justify setting up an in-patient service in Hull.

The LINk report contained criticisms from sufferers about "appalling" waiting lists and medical and psychiatric services locally being "worse than useless", but did say there had been a "considerable" number of positive changes recently. A survey revealed that sufferers found Hull-based support group Seed Eating Disorders Support Services and GPs more helpful than other services.

Gemma Oaten, an actress who is about to take a guest role in the BBC TV drama Doctors, had an eating disorder from the age of 10. Her mother Marg Oaten set up the support group as a consequence.

Gemma said: "My hope for this would be that these treatments work and there's a lot more understanding to what an eating disorder is about. Sufferers are just normal human beings who are struggling. I was very fortunate that the GP I had when I was younger, I think kept me alive.

"Back then I don't think people really understood it. The one thing I've found since speaking on the radio is that people are just so grateful ... there's so much shame and secrecy. It is not something to be ashamed of. If people can become more open about it it will become less of a taboo."

Mrs Oaten said the investment was a "massive step forward". She said: "It is so encouraging that they are recognising that more investment needs to be made." She said more training was needed for GPs, the first port of call for sufferers. She said: "At the moment it is not an adequate service, there are massive improvements, but everything is still very fragmented. People often tend to get turned away with no treatment at all. We see people every week who don't know who to turn to. We have been in that position ourselves.

"We had a horrendous journey and that's why we are where we are now."

For more information visit www.seedeatingdisorders.org.uk, or call the helpline on 01482 718130.