Last updated on July 28th, 2017
I recently received an enthusiastic email from a reader, praising, among other things, her local eating disorders service. I wanted to know, 'What are they doing for you that is so fantastic?' The more she told me, the more curious I got.
So I phoned her clinicians, and had a great chat with Lydia Goodrum and Dr Sarah Maxwell, from the Community Eating Disorders Service of Great Yarmouth and Waveney, part of the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT). We talked about treatment for adolescents and for adults.
I recorded them in a YouTube video for you all to benefit from their experience and enthusiasm.
I have spoken to many clinicians and learned tons from them. Many do fantastic work — and they deserve to be applauded and are just as worthy of interviews. I think these clinicians will enjoy cheering along with this video, and maybe they will write in the video comments what other things they do that work well.
Then there are all the clinicians who are doing their best, and who are rather stuck, in a set-up that suits neither them nor their patients. I really hope that this video will contribute to change, by providing ideas or inspiration.
Please do email the video link (https://youtu.be/Zg9Sgt-HMO4?list=PLVgyQbyKQSBHUbIDLlc7t3v7bN0lmLcve) to clinicians, health service managers and parents, so that they can, in turn, pass it on. Embed it into your blogs, show it at groups or conferences, and do the tweeting thing.
The video lasts 45mn, so think of it like going to a conference, only a lot shorter and the tea is better. If 45mn is too long for you right now, there's a menu with clickable links all along the top, and there's a 4 minute summary starting here:
This interview will be particularly useful to clinicians and managers in England, who are currently under pressure to implement the new NHS standards for children and adolescents with an eating disorder. For those of you NOT in England, this will give you a glimpse of the kinds of standards you could be campaigning for in your own area.
Topics:
- prompt treatment
- self-referral
- combining the children & adolescent service with the adult service
- support for the family at home, in school, and in hospital
- a parents' group
- consultation of users and parents to improve services
- transformational plans to comply with England's "Access and Waiting Time" standard
- use of money: from working on a shoestring, to using new NHS England funds
For more of my videos, see this list. To be informed of new resources I produce every now and then, sign up to my mailing list.