No plan for 20 promised eating disorder beds to open

There is currently no plan to open 20 specialist beds for adults with eating disorders that were planned under the HSE’s 2018 programme of care according to the Minister with Responsibility for Mental Health.

Minister of State Mary Butler was responding to questions about the plans to open the new beds under the National Clinical Programme for Eating Disorders (NCP-ED).

Speaking to Fran McNulty on Prime Time, Minister Butler said that the model of care for eating disorders will be reviewed towards the end of this year to assess if additional beds are required on top of the three that are currently in place at St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin.

“We’re going to re-look at the model of care at the end of this year, using all the data we have. We could need potentially another 20 beds on top of the three,” Ms Butler said.

The Minister also stated that the average number of people accessing care through the Treatment Abroad Scheme (TAS) in recent years could mean less than the 20 originally planned beds might be needed.

“The average amount of people that have had treatment abroad over the last nine years is averaging six. So, whether we need 20 beds on top of the three we already have is going to be looked at.

“I don’t think we need more because 90% of all supports being provided for people with an eating disorder are in the community,” Ms Butler added.

Ms Butler also said that while the three beds at St Vincent’s Hospital are currently full, there has been significant Government spend on private capacity, alongside the patients treated via TAS, to supplement the care of adults with eating disorders.

“I accept there is a waiting list. So, what we have done and I as minister have put in place, is a bed capacity review across all acute beds,” Ms Butler said.

“We have spent quite a lot of money on private capacity. If they need a bed, if they have an eating disorder, we are building up the capacity across beds. We have supported people with the treatment abroad scheme. Over the last four years, 14 people have used the treatment abroad scheme,” Ms Butler said.

READ: ‘It takes over’: Eating disorder patients struggle to find help

As well as the plans to open 20 new adult beds, the NCP-ED also detailed plans to provide specialist care for eating disorders nationwide through 16 multidisciplinary teams. Eight were to focus on adults while the other eight were for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS).

Of the 16, eleven are now in place but there are no multidisciplinary teams for CAMHS in Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan, in Laois and Offaly, or across a section of the mid-west covering Clare, Limerick and north Tipperary.

“In 2018, the model of care was launched for the very first time coming from very low base in relation to supporting people with eating disorders. And the model of care proposed 16 teams. Eight CAMHS and eight adult teams. When I came in we had one team. We now have eleven. There’s 100 dedicated specialist clinicians working across eating disorders,” Ms Butler said.

Ms Butler also said that while the goal of increasing the provision of care for young people with eating disorders remains the same there is difficulty in securing specialist staff.

“There’s no area in the country without a CAMHS teams. There are five specialist eating disorder teams for CAMHS. We have to get to eight and we’re doing it incrementally and even if I had the complete budget to do it overnight, we wouldn’t be able to get the specialist staff overnight. It takes 18 months to set up a multidisciplinary team.

“We have a lot more to do, but we are doing it. I am announcing another team for this year. So, we will have 12 and then I will work with the budget cycles to introduce another two teams for next year and another two for the following year. That will bring us to the 16.”

“As long as I am Minister for Mental Health, I will continue to prioritise the roll out of eating disorder teams and also adult beds,” Ms Butler added.

A report from Conor Wilson and Sally Anne Godson about this topic features on the 25 April edition of Prime Time on RTÉ One television at 9.35pm.

Details of organisations that may assist in relation to mental health can be found at rte.ie/helplines.