EATING DISORDERS ASSOCIATION AWARENESS WEEK

Early day motion 533, tabled 2 February 2004 by Simon Thomas (Plaid Cymru). Signed by 92 members.

That this House welcomes the Eating Disorders Association Awareness Week, running from 1st to 8th February, as an important step towards securing better national services for those with eating disorders and raising awareness amongst health care professionals of the best researched treatments now available; notes that the EDA received 18,750 calls to its helpline last year, and that according to a recent survey 40 per cent. of people with eating disorders were kept waiting more than three months for treatment or referral when the new National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines for treatment of eating disorders state that early intervention is most effective; believes that though the need for specialist eating disorder services is increasing, many areas in the United Kingdom still have no specialist services available at a local level, including Wales where there is none at all; and calls upon the Government to work with the EDA and health commissioners across the United Kingdom to ensure proper provision and funding of eating disorders services everywhere and to take full account of the recently published National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidelines on treating patients with eating disorders.

Signatures by party: Labour 31, Conservative 27, Liberal Democrat 18, Labour/Co-operative 4, Plaid Cymru 4, UUP 3, DUP 2, Scottish National Party 2, Independent Conservative 1.