Anorexic doctor calls for new eating-disorders treatment centre

Published on Friday 23 March 2007 00:05

BETTER services for adults with eating disorders were called for yesterday as a doctor highlighted the shortage of help currently available to patients.

Dr Fiona Campbell, who has suffered from anorexia for more than 20 years, has launched a petition to create an NHS adult inpatient unit in the Lothians. Patients in the region are currently referred for treatment in private clinics, but waiting lists can be long.

Dr Campbell, 38, of Edinburgh, has had treatment in York and Glasgow, but said this took her away from friends and family and affected recovery.

She spent seven months on a psychiatric ward at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary being treated for depression, with no specific help for her anorexia.

"It was horrendous. I felt very isolated," Dr Campbell said."The staff did not work with people like me and they did not have an understanding of what I was going through."

A spokesman for the eating disorders charity BEAT said: "The provision of services for these patients in Scotland is appalling. This needs to be improved." The charity estimates that 83,000 people in Scotland had an eating disorder.

An Executive spokeswoman said: "Improvements have and will continue to be made in eating-disorders services.

"We continue to work with NHS Boards and their partners, including the independent sector, on the range of local and national initiatives under way or planned to ensure the best possible care and treatment for all.

"It is very important that we continue to raise awareness of the effect illnesses such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia can have on people's mental health and wellbeing, particularly young people."

The petition and further information can be found at ActionForEatingDisorders.blogspot.com