London hospital expects an increase in Irish referrals for eating disorder treatments

Thu, 20 Jan, 2022 - 03:00

Ann Murphy

A London hospital which specialises in eating disorders is expecting an increase in Irish patients this year.

Each year, patients travel to the UK for treatment for eating disorders, including to the Nightingale Hospital in London. The hospital currently has one Irish patient receiving inpatient eating disorder treatment.

Hospital spokeswoman Lauren Raffa said: “Nightingale Hospital admitted one Irish patient for eating disorder in-patient treatment last year in 2021. This follows a similar trend in prior years [2020 and 2019]. Each patient admitted has required long treatment stays due to their clinical presentation and treatment needs.”

She said, however: “As our relationship with referrers based across Ireland continues to strengthen following successful patient outcomes thus far, we expect to see an increase in Irish patient referrals in 2022.”

The patients with eating disorders who travel to the UK for in-patient treatment include adults who have been made wards of court.

Currently, there are just three in-patient public beds available in Ireland, all based in St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin.

However, they are only available to people in the catchment area of Dublin Southeast, Dublin South, and Co Wicklow. Hospital admissions for eating disorders in children and adolescents rose 66% in 2020 against 2019.

Earlier this month, the Irish Examiner revealed that a 10-bed private inpatient facility at the National Eating Disorder Recovery Centre in Ballsbridge, Dublin, has been lying idle since last April because prospective patients cannot get HSE funding, even though the facility has been approved by the Mental Health Commission.

Private health insurers have agreed to provide cover to patients, with the first in-patients due at the centre next month. The disorder recovery unit is in the same catchment area as Mount Carmel Hospital, which was to have an expansion of its eating disorder services completed by the end of December. However, this project is now not due for completion until June.

The HSE’s Model of Care released in 2018 committed to 16 hubs within five years. Just three are completed, however.

The HSE says it is committed to the programme and that three more hub teams are at an advanced stage of recruitment. The body plans to have eight adult teams and eight teams for child and adolescent mental health services. The HSE says decisions on funding of patients in private facilities are made based on individual clinical need and prioritisation of available funding.

Social Democrats TD Holly Cairns has raised the issue of travel to the UK for eating disorder treatment.

“It is appalling that people have to travel abroad to get life-saving medical treatment,” she said.

"Support services for eating disorders in this country are not just threadbare, they are virtually non-existent. This failure to invest in support services is causing untold pain and trauma. It is prolonging and exacerbating the disease in those who are desperate for treatment.

"We must see urgent investment in specialist services.

- If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please click here for a list of support services.