What treatment and care is there for eating disorders in Scotland?

How does Scotland treat eating disorders?

The good news is that if you have a child or adolescent suffering from an eating disorder in Scotland, there are good chances he or she for engwill receive excellent, evidence-based treatment, and that this will be offered promptly. Scotland has led the way in getting staff trained and supervised to a high level in the best approach available. We have some highly committed, amazing top experts, who are working hard at helping others voluntarily raise their standards. I live in Scotland and I am impressed by their work.

The bad news for a small number of you is that how well your child is treated still depends on where you live. Care and treatment for people with an eating disorder in Scotland is a postcode lottery. From some parents' experiences, it looks like some health boards are not delivering family-based treatment, presumably because they think their approach is better. This is even though every health board has staff who have attended basic training in FBT.

I've come across another frustration: an area where even though there's a couple of clinicians trained to a high level, the patient cannot get access to them. I don't understand why. A while back I also came across two families in a health board where an excellent eating disorder service exists, but the GP and CAMHS blocked access to them, because they were over-confident in their assessment that the child did not have anorexia. In both cases, the young person got eating disorder care after several years of their parents fighting for it. I don't know if this could happen again or if the health board improved its procedures.

In short, standards of treatment are lacking in some areas of Scotland, which means some young people are more ill, for longer, than they would be if they lived some distance away.

There is no standard or audit or government action to force health boards to improve on this situation. But as I edit this in 2022, I know there is work is in progress towards this.

Scotland is in principle well ahead of the family therapy curve, which means that treatment of children and teens should be among the best in the world. Every health board in Scotland has had at least one member of CAMHS staff trained in FBT (family-based treatment) by James Lock (from Stanford University). But in practice, standards vary. Overall, many staff have had a pretty basic 2-day FBT awareness course, which really doesn't not seem to produce the level of expertise we require from an eating-disorder therapist. The good news is that most health boards have had a lot more over the last few years, as James Lock has visited regularly.

In many places, there are clinicians who are going through FBT certification, or who now have it. This certification is very thorough (and expensive), with lots of practice and supervision from experts related to Stanford, so with these people, your child should be in good hands.

Pre-pandemic, in-patient units for children and adolescents were reporting informally that the number of eating disorder patients has dropped dramatically. We believe that is because of the success of early intervention and of FBT. Many of these units say they are integrating principles of FBT into what they do. From some parents' reports, more is needed in some places.

A few health boards have been training staff to competently deliver a form of CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) which has been developed and tested for eating disorders (one form of which was developed by Christopher Fairburn and is called CBT-E). The SIGN guidelines for Scotland (which is the Scottish version of the NICE guidelines) lists this type of CBT as one of the options for the treatment of anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating disorder.

When hospitalisation is needed, there is a move to treating children for a short while in paediatric (medical units), with the help of CAMHS, then the care resumes at home. So the move is away from psychiatric beds.

Scotland has some private eating disorders in-patient units, and of course, private outpatient care. For under 18s, assuming you are covered by a CAMHS that is up to date, my impression is you will get the most up to date treatment within the NHS. In Ayrshire the eating disorder service is an-age service, and I wish that was the norm.

For adults suffering from an eating disorder in Scotland, my knowledge is very patchy.

One of our vulnerable areas is GP response time. Some know to refer immediately to the mental health services. Some don't. And then there are regional variations in whether the mental health services will deal with a referral fast or slow. Self-referral to the experts is not allowed in Scotland, whereas the ability for children and adolescents (or their parents) to self-refer is now mandatory in England.

And the pandemic has made waiting lists worse, on the whole.

What are the official guidelines or standards for treating eating disorders in Scotland?

SIGN guidelines for the treatment of eating disorders were published Jan 2022. SIGN guidelines are the Scotland equivalent of England's NICE guidelines.

For the treatment of adolescents, the recommendations seem to be to be pretty much the same as the NICE guidelines. There are maybe some differences on the adult side.

The Scottish government has a Mental Health Strategy 2017-27 – a 10 year vision which includes eating disorders but has almost nothing that is specific to eating disorders.

I'm not sure if this Strategy has any revelance right now, (or if it ever had) or if the only relevant document right now is the Scottish Eating Disorder Services Review. Check out its status in case I don't update this page soon enough.

The treatment delivered in Scotland

• People in Scotland should be treated according to the SIGN guidelines (if you've heard of NICE guidelines, SIGN is the Scottish equivalent)
• Those guidelines also require carers (parents) to receive support.
• When someone is "really sick" because of anorexia, the GP, mental health service, CAMHS or hospital should be carrying tests and judging the level of intervention according to the MEED guidelines from The Royal College of Psychiatrists (the previous version was called 'MARSIPAN'). .
• The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 is the main Act that comes into force if your child has "significantly impaired decision-making ability (SIDMA)". There's a lot of assessment and consultation involved in applying it to your child in order to, say, feed by nasogastric tube. The act also makes provision for "Urgent medical treatment", which may be given without consent in order to save life, prevent serious deterioration or alleviate serious suffering. provisions apply
• The Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 concerns those who lack capacity due to mental illness.  It prohibits the use of force or detention unless immediately necessary and does not authorise detention in hospital. It can only authorise feeding by artificial means if it does not involve the use of force.
• The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016, came into force in 2018. It requires local authorities to have a plan to support carers. For the act in plain English, see the Carers Charter.

How we can (and should) improve how we treat eating disorders in Scotland

All on this page here.

Financial support, benefits and allowances

If you are struggling financially, as many parents do when they put work on hold to care for their child, there are benefits / allowances you may be entitled to.

Social services may or may not be knowledgeable about these. Where I live, there's better and simpler: the local council has an expert whose sole job is to help you check you have what you're entitled to. Check out “Income maximisation” or “Benefits health check”.

Your child may qualify for Disability Living Allowance (up to age 16) and once 16, move on to Personal Independence Payments (PIP). More info on mygov.scot

See also what I found out for England as some of it applies to Scotland too.

For further support in Scotland– and to get involved

Here's a list of groups or services that can support you. For more on groups that advocate for improvements, see here.

Complaints

Pop over to this page, which I wrote mostly for England, but a lot of it applies to the other UK nations.

If you or your child are not getting treatment to a standard you think is acceptable (for instance, if your child is not given access to FBT treatment within a week even though their need seems urgent) then complain. You can complain directly to someone in charge, or you can make a formal complaint to the health board. A complaint could lead to a thorough investigation of a complicated problem, but a straightforward issue could be fixed within 5 days. Details here.

You can get help from the Patient Advice and Support Service (PASS)

Feedback via Care Opinion Check out Care Opinion, as this may be a way for you to get heard by a health service unit without making a formal complaint. Let me know if it works!

The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland will, I believe, give you sympathetic guidance, intervene if something is not right in someone's care, and they have a most informative website. For instance, they have produced guidance on:

• handling confidentiality (decision-making and confidentiality rules begin at age 12, and then again age 16)
• good practice around 'significantly impaired decision-making ability'
• nutrition by artificial means
• and making an 'advance statement' so you can ask for the care you want if you become mentally unwell.

Schools Good schools work with parents and clinicians and the pupil to make it possible for the pupil to be on their recovery journey while in school. Sadly there are schools that refuse to supervise a child's meals or don't do it consistently. So either the child stays ill because they're not eating, or they miss out on their education.

If this is happening to you, tell your school that they have a legal obligation to support children with medical needs. The law is on https://www.gov.scot/publications/supporting-children-young-people-healthcare-needs-schools/ and there is guidance here and here.

Peer support in Scotland (parents, young people) via BEAT and NHS

The Scottish Government has been funding partnership projects between the NHS and the charity BEAT to provide free support services for Scotland. Find all kinds of information, support and training for parents, and there's also mentoring for our children. I say more on my England page here.

BEAT's services for carers in Scotland: https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/get-information-and-support/beat-support-in-my-area/beat-services-in-scotland/scotland-services-for-carers/

BEAT's services for people with an eating disorder in Scotland: https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/get-information-and-support/beat-support-in-my-area/beat-services-in-scotland/scotland-services/  

As well as providing direct support, BEAT works on improving services in Scotland and the UK's other nations. I encourage you to sign up to their newsletter.

Support from me

I am in Glasgow myself and I offer online workshops. Unlike the BEAT offerings, there's a cost involved (it can be small) as what you pay me helps me continue this work.

SupportED – The Community Eating Disorder Charity (Scotland-wide)

SupportED' holds peer support groups as well as one-on-one befriending, for over-18s. Both types of support are for anyone affected by any eating disorder, including parents, carers and friends. All run by trained volunteers. (This organisation used to be named 'Linda Tremble Foundation')

North East Eating Disorders Group ( Scotland) : www.needs-scotland.org 'Based in Aberdeen and in Dundee, NEEDS Scotland aims to offer information about eating disorders, support and encouragement in a safe, caring and confidential environment, to anyone affected by an eating disorder – sufferers, families and other carers. We aim to help ease the isolation many sufferers and carers feel. We hope that people attending meetings will no longer feel isolated with problems, meet others experiencing similar problems, have opportunities to borrow books and other useful resources as well as meet interesting speakers, and to be listened to with compassion and without judgement. Raising awareness of the problems caused by eating disorders for sufferers and their families is also part of NEEDS Scotland activities.'

In Dundee, NEEDS has an offshoot group called 'Bridging the Gap' that supports parents/carers.

Managed Clinical Network for Eating Disorders (North Scotland)  : https://www.nhsgrampian.org/service-hub/eating-disorder-mcn/for Tayside, Grampian, Highland (including Argyll & Bute), Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles. Information for Patients and Carers, Health Care Professionals and the Managed Clinical Network (MCN) group.

Falkirk, Stirling, Clackmannanshire, Forth Valley

For parents/carers for adolescents with eating disorders, there is a group  meeting the last Monday of every month, 7-8pm St Andrews West Church, Upper Newmarket Street, Falkirk. Catchment area is NHS Forth Valley – Falkirk, Stirling, Clackmannanshire areas. Do check with the organiser that it's happening. Their contact is on Twitter as @MediaWhoresband

Scottish Eating Disorders Interest Group (SEDIG) :  in case you're looking for this group, it wound down in 2021.

Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland

Maybe not directly useful to parents, but be aware there is a Scottish Faculty of Eating Disorders within RCPsych in Scotland, chaired by the very dedicated Dr Jane Morris, Consultant Psychiatrist at the Eden Unit at Aberdeen's Royal Cornhill Hospital.

Scotland has a Minister for Mental Wellbeing 

Up to date names are here. For tips on getting change through government, see here.

Please message me if I've left out any groups relevant to parents in Scotland. For anything outside Scotland, see my page on England here. In there I include information useful to anyone in the UK

And please let me know of errors or omissions on this page.

* Back to the main Scotland page*