If your life has been affected by an eating disorder, either as sufferer or carer, or you wish to help prevent someone else suffering the misery of this condition without the inpatient support they deserve from a capital city, please add your name to the petition at the following website:
Click here to sign my petition
Background
With the dramatic increase in eating disorders over the last decade, services have not kept apace with need. Having been raised in Edinburgh, and having graduated as a doctor from Edinburgh university while suffering from anorexia, I feel I have been let down by a lack of inpatient services in my home town. My frustration is such that I now feel compelled to lobby the Scottish Parliament for an inpatient unit for adults with eating disorders in the Edinburgh and Lothians area.
For adults in Edinburgh, there is only an outpatients service provided through the Cullen Centre (Royal Edinburgh Hospital). This service is divided into the Anorexia Nervosa Intensive Care Team for those at extremely low body weights (BMI 13 or below), and a team for general help with eating disorders. This is an excellent service as far as it goes, but waiting times for general help can be nine months to a year, and the length of a course of therapy is woefully inadequate due to the inability for existing resources to meet demand.
Although there is a small inpatient unit based in West Lothian, this only accepts patients up to the age of 35 years and it is not attached to a medical facility, which is essential given the medical frailty of people with severe eating disorders
I've suffered from an eating disorder for twenty years, and I have twice had to be hospitalised for treatment. Both these times have involved leaving my home and family to stay in specialist units in both York and Glasgow as there are no specialist inpatient services in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland! Although these services were good, continuity of care in the outpatient setting is impossible to deliver due to the distances involved. As relapse is most likely to occur in the immediate period after discharge, there is a wasted opportunity for a successful long-term recovery.
