Children with eating disorders in Leeds are waiting too long for treatment

Mental health charity YoungMinds warned the consequences of leaving young people in limbo can be “potentially devastating”.

Guidelines say patients should begin treatment within four weeks of referral in 2020-21, or within one week for urgent cases.

But NHS England data shows just 74 per cent of children and under 19s referred to the Leeds trust were seen within four weeks between July 2019 and June this year – meaning 27 waited longer for treatment.

This is far below the 95 per cent target. But waiting times for urgent cases met the target – all 13 cases saw patients receive treatment within a week. The target referral window follows extra investment aimed at improving eating disorder services across the country.

Tom Madders, director of campaigns at YoungMinds, said it is “encouraging” that many young people were able to access eating disorder treatment during lockdown. He added: “However, there is real variation across the country, with some areas already meeting the waiting times standard and others falling behind.”

Leeds Community Healthcare Trust​ also saw cases rise in the last year, from 73 to 115.

An NHS spokesman said: “Record numbers of children and young people are being treated for eating disorders, waiting times are improving significantly and it is thanks to the hard work of staff that despite the pandemic, the NHS supported more children and young people to get the care they need within four weeks compared to the same period last year.”