NHS staff to train teachers, school nurses and GPs to spot eating disorders
- Healthwatch Wokingham
- 12 hours ago
- 3 min read
The NHS has published new national guidance to improve how eating disorders are identified and treated in children and young people.
As part of this, NHS staff will train teachers, school nurses, and GPs to spot early warning signs and refer young people for help sooner. The guidance moves away from relying on BMI alone and instead focuses on behaviour changes, mental health and family concerns.
What this means
Eating disorders amongst children and young people have risen rapidly since the COVID pandemic, with nearly 40% more starting treatment compared to 2019/20. This new approach aims to ensure no child is left to “suffer in silence” and that access to care is fair and consistent across the UK. Earlier identification and referral should reduce waiting times, prevent conditions from becoming more severe and improve recovery outcomes.
What’s happening now
Training: Free online training is being rolled out for teachers, GPs, school nurses, and others who work with children, developed with Beat and the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Better assessments: Clinicians are being guided to assess eating disorders using a wider range of indicators, not outdated BMI thresholds.
Expanded services: Every area in England now has a specialist children and young people’s eating disorder service, with faster access to treatment, with an average of a three-week referral.
Earlier support: More care is being provided in community settings, closer to home, to reduce the need for hospital treatment.
Focus on equity: The guidance addresses inequalities in access to care and includes conditions like Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) which has previously been harder to access treatment for.
Overall, this marks the biggest overhaul of children and young people’s eating disorder guidance since 2015, with a strong emphasis on early intervention, collaboration across education and healthcare, and timely access to support.
Dr Ashish Kumar, Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Eating Disorders Faculty, said:
“We welcome this guidance which has the potential to reduce waiting times and improve care for children and young people who have anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders. These conditions can be extremely serious and even life-threatening when left untreated, so it is imperative that we are bold in our efforts to innovate the support that is available.
“Community eating disorder services should use this guidance to establish day care and outreach initiatives that can prevent young people from becoming unwell and help others recover more quickly. We also need new care pathways for patients with avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder who often struggle to access treatment.
“This guidance provides a blueprint through which frontline eating disorder services can work with GPs, paediatricians, neurodiversity pathways, schools, colleges and intellectual disability services to better meet the needs of children and young people. We hope integrated care boards will seize this opportunity and support services to implement these national commissioning guidelines as soon as possible with the appropriate resources and funding”.
For more information: NHS England » NHS staff to train teachers, school nurses, and GPs to spot eating disorders
How Healthwatch Wokingham Borough can help
We are here to make sure your voice is heard - your voice matters!
If you or a family member has used the local eating disorder service, we’d really value your feedback to help us understand what’s working well and where improvements can be made.
Any feedback you share will be treated in strict confidence and will not affect the care you or your family members receives.