Norfolk: Support for eating disorders to be reviewed

Jamie Osborn who has an eating disorder has persuaded other Norfolk councillors to review help provided by NSFT for people with the condition

A council will review the support given to people with eating disorders after hearing it can take three and a half years to get treatment.

Members of Norfolk County Council voted unanimously to scrutinise the service provided by the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT).

Jamie Osborn, a councillor with an eating disorder, put forward the motion.

The trust welcomed the review and said it was an "important issue".

Mr Osborn, 28, a member of the Green Party, said he had suffered from anorexia and also bulimia since he was a teenager.

He highlighted research by the eating disorder charity Beat which showed it took an average of three and a half years for someone to get treatment.

"It's just getting access to that treatment for people, making sure that people get that level of help," he said.

"In a lot of cases people are referred to general mental health services and that's not always appropriate."

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Mr Osborn called for the council's health overview and scrutiny committee to look at how NSFT handled eating disorders and the treatment people received as they moved into adulthood.

"That's a real crisis point for a lot of people," he added.

The decision to review NSFT's provision for adults with eating disorders was approved by members of Norfolk County Council

His motion was unanimously backed.

Michael Chenery, Conservative, said: "I worked with eating disorders at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital and it didn't take three and a half years to get seen.

"I've seen so many people lose their life because of delay; three-and-a-half years is a hell of a long time to get seen."

Stuart Richardson, chief executive of Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust said: "We are pleased to see that this important issue has been highlighted.

"We look forward to working alongside our partners, Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board, in this review."

Information and support for those affected by eating disorders or mental health issues is available via the BBC's Action Line.