Cork's Holly Cairns says people with eating disorders 'continue to be abandoned' by Government

THE Government has been urged to increase funding for adult in-patient beds for the treatment of eating disorders (ED), as no beds are available to patients in Cork.

According to the HSE National Clinical Programme for Eating Disorders, which was launched in 2018, it is estimated that 188,895 people in Ireland will experience an eating disorder at some point in their lives.

Treatment figures published by the Government body show that 385 patients were diagnosed with an ED nationwide last year, an increase of 200 on the previous year. Twice as many assessments were also recorded within the same period.

A spokesperson for HSE Cork-Kerry Community Healthcare said that while there are no beds available in Cork for patients presenting with an ED, there is capacity available within specific HSE mental health centres across the county.

Range of treatments

“HSE Mental Health Services in Cork offer a range of treatments for people with EDs,” the spokesperson stated.

“Cork has an ED team for adults, one of the six Adult National Clinical Programme for Eating Disorders (NCPED) teams across the country.

“While there are no beds solely used for the treatment of EDs in Cork, it’s important to note that if an adult with an ED needs in-patient care, they can be referred to any of our acute in-patient mental health centres. There is capacity within these services to admit people with EDs when there is a clinical need to do so.

“Adults presenting with an ED can also be treated in an acute hospital if their physical health needs require this level of care.”

Despite this availability of services, a call for funding, issued by Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns, describes the current state of service offerings to patients as “shameful” due to the lack of support received by the sector since 2018.

“Patients with eating disorders continue to be abandoned by this Government,” she said.

Promised

“Disgracefully, there are just three public in-patient beds in the country for the treatment of EDs in adults, all of them in St Vincent’s in Dublin.”

Ms Cairns further highlighted that when the current Taoiseach, Simon Harris, served as minister for health, a commitment was made to deliver 20 new beds by 2023.

“In the past six years, there has been zero funding for the additional inpatient beds promised,” said Ms Cairns.

“There is an urgent need for increased specialised inpatient facilities across the country, in addition to the expansion of outpatient services and, crucially, improved access to counselling.”

Ms Cairns urged the Government to consider re-evaluating the model of care that is offered to adults who suffer with EDs.

“Too often, EDs are dealt with as just a matter of bringing a patient’s weight up instead of as a mental health disorder,” she said.

“There must be specialised training in this area for psychiatric staff, those working in ED teams, dieticians, and, importantly, GPs.

“There is also a need to update the 2018 Eating Disorders Services model of care, which is now out of date, along with the recruitment of additional staff for ED teams around the country.”