The absence of specialist eating disorder teams in 14 counties means there are still “lots of barriers to accessing care”, the charity Bodywhys.ie has said. 

Care for people in Ireland with eating disorders has long suffered from a shortage of specialist doctors and beds; as recently as 2018, there was only one specialist team in the country with five members of staff. 

Today, there are 11 teams with 110 staff but provision of care remains patchy. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, Bodywhys.ie CEO Harriet Parson many patients still struggle to get the medical treatment they need. 

“There's lots of barriers to accessing care,” she said. 

“I mean, in the first place, I suppose an eating disorder is such an insidious, difficult, complicated illness and counterintuitive. 

“So, within the person themselves, there can be a huge battle around recognising that they're ill and there can be a huge fear around going to the GP.

“And, you know, we hear that GPs have varying levels of understanding.”

Ms Parson continued that even when a person has been referred for care, receiving it is far from simple. 

“People who are getting referred into services and they're not meeting criteria or they have the services have certain criteria because they have limited resources and they have huge waiting lists as well,” she explained. 

“So, there's lots of those barriers and also, I suppose a big issue would be people with autism and eating disorders.” 

A doctor with a patient. Image: Alamy

Ms Parson added that the impact of this on the patient’s family is very often “horrific”, as their loved one is so often resistant to treatment. 

“A person with an eating disorder struggles to recognise that they're not well,” she said. 

“And so, if they're not able to access care, well, it just validates all of that distorted thinking in their head. 

“So, it's very easy then for the eating disorder to really take hold and to really torture the person.” 

Hospital beds

In the Programme for Government, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael committed themselves to “grow and support eating disorder teams”. 

Notably, they also promised to deliver more beds for eating disorder patients. 

“There are three dedicated beds in St Vincent's Hospital and they’re for that catchment area,” Ms Parson said. 

“So, the positive bit of it is that the Minister has said that there are going to be new adult inpatient specialist eating disorder beds in three locations around the country and they'll all have a national catchment,” she said. 

“From those three beds in Vincent's, there will now be 22 beds in the plan. 

“And that's part of the HSE capital plan as well; so, look, they cannot come too soon.” 

If you feel you might be suffering from an eating disorder, you can contact Bodywhys's confidential helpline on 012107906 for advice. 

Main image: A doctor holding a stethoscope. Picture by: Alamy.com.