Hello everyone! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a good start to 2022!
Over the next three months there is some exciting things planned with #DumpTheScales and lots coming up for you to get really stuck in to. But before I launch that and get into the nitty gritty of next steps I wanted to ask you to take just a few minutes out of your day to write to the Minister for Mental health, Gillian Keegan.
Over the last few months, we have tried to make the government listen by sharing stories, calculating an economic value showing the social cost for eating disorders but for some reason neither of these things seem to stick! They are still not taking matters seriously when it comes to making sure there is adequate funding, support and prompt access to treatment for those affected by eating disorders.
I know that for some of you you might think sending an email is pointless but the more noise we make the better!!
A draft letter is below, but please feel free to personalise it! And as always let me know if you hear back! Together we will change this and end the injustices that people all over the country are facing when it comes to eating disorders!
Thank you for all your ongoing support!
Minister for Mental Health Letter and Contact info: https://contactus.dhsc.gov.uk/ AND gillian.keegan.mp@parliament.uk
Dear the RT Hon Gillian Keegan,
I am writing to you to share my frustrations around the lack of change we are seeing across the UK around eating disorder treatment.
The coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on the mental health of our nation and it’s hit eating disorder sufferers particularly hard. What was already a health crisis before the pandemic has now reached total catastrophe with the numbers of people needing support increasing, and an overrun, broken system falling to its knees. People are being turned away from treatment, children are in general wards being tube fed, caregivers don’t know where to turn for support, and there is no sign of this ending.
The stories we hear in the media, the NHS Digital figures and reports are a stark reminder of what is going on across the UK right now where every single day people are being left in limbo without any support.
Hope Virgo, Founder of #DumpTheScales hosted a roundtable in November with colleagues from the Hearts Minds and Genes Coalition and I was pleased to hear that you had attended this. She clearly laid out recommendations in the reporting including a call for a UK-wide eating disorder strategy with a clear timeline for implementation, a screening programme, increased research, awareness raising and training for healthcare professionals.
Sadly, it is clear that none of this has progressed further with you since this meeting.
I am urging you to:
- Review the suggested recommendations that have been put forward in the report and work with stakeholders to come up with a timeline of implementation
- Take action to prevent and even bigger increase in eating disorder levels for the next generation including evaluating the upcoming obesity strategy
We urge you to meet with the co-chairs of the Hearts, Minds coalition to discuss how rising eating disorder rates can be tackled in the context of the aftermath of COVID-19, the upcoming obesity strategy, and the enormous rise in cases. If we don't tackle this problem now, the rise in eating disorder cases may not dissipate but instead become a new normal.
As the Minister for Mental Health I look forward to hearing what you will do, and how you are planning to tackle this issue moving forward.
Best wishes,