Debate contribution: Regional Eating Disorder Service

Debate contribution by Mr Peter Martin on 3 March 2026.

MLA

Mr Peter Martin

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

3 March 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Regional Eating Disorder Service

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5434966

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Eating disorders are a serious and complex mental illness. In the United Kingdom, 1·25 million people are currently living with an eating disorder. When we bring that to Northern Ireland, it is 37,000 individuals. Those are not statistics, although they sound like them. They are people: friends, family members and colleagues who are affected by an illness that, very often, in the early stages, is hidden. My party's reason for tabling the motion was to raise awareness of the illness and to call for better and, in particular, earlier support. It is important to remember that eating disorders do not discriminate. They affect people of all ages, sexes, ethnicities, backgrounds and political opinions. No community is immune. Eating disorders reach into homes, schools, workplaces and social circles, leaving significant trails of impact as they go. Tragically, they carry some of the highest preventable mortality rates of any mental illness. Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any mental health condition, and research indicates that one in six people with a binge-eating disorder has attempted to end their life. Those figures remind us that eating disorders are not lifestyle choices or phases but real illnesses that require recognition, compassion, understanding and effective treatment. There is also an important message of hope. Recovery is possible. With the right treatment and support, people recover from eating disorders. Early intervention is absolutely key, however, and, as we know — the Health Minister definitely knows it — is more cost-effective for the health service. When individuals are able to access specialist support, their chances of recovery increase significantly. Unfortunately, that is not everyone's experience. Many individuals face long delays before they get the help that they need. On average, those who access treatment experience a gap of about three years from the onset of their eating disorder until the start of their treatment. Some of that delay is down to the fact that they need to be diagnosed and that that process is quite complicated, but those are the figures. The delays are quite common, and the illness can become significantly more entrenched during the time of the delay, with the suffering experienced by individuals and their family deepening and the need for more intensive, invasive and often more costly interventions increasing. In many cases, hospital admissions follow, putting additional pressure on the health service, and, for that matter, on the individuals' loved ones. Last week was Eating Disorder Awareness Week. I hope that that, along with the motion, increases public awareness and reminds people that there is help out there, so that, if they are concerned about themselves or a family member, they can reach out. The debate is not politically contentious. If it were, the Benches would be full and we would be getting ready to shout at each other across the Chamber and disagree, politically, on some issues. That is not the case. There will be people watching today, including some who have been in contact with me, who are looking to us, especially to the Minister, to give them hope. Families and carers play a crucial role in recovery, and supporting someone with an eating disorder can be emotionally exhausting and very isolating, as I know at first hand. Action 29(d) of the mental health strategy 2021-2031 sets out an ambitious vision for improving eating disorder services and specialist treatments. The vision includes supporting services to provide specialist treatment for patients who present with eating disorders, including those with mild to moderate conditions, without unnecessary delay. The strategy outlines plans to develop talking therapy hubs and:

"intensive day treatment facilities in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance"

as well as improving clinical consultation and providing support for inpatient units that manage high-risk patients with eating disorders. All those measures recognise the simple but critical point that early and effective community treatment is essential. There have been many improvements in planning and service coordination. The deliverability review of the mental health strategy, which was published in October 2025, noted that the strategic planning and performance group (SPPG) had completed an outline business case for a regional eating disorder service, which is awaiting a financial review. I will come back to that at the end of my remarks. In addition to that, the recently launched managed care network for eating disorders represents an important step forward and there is encouraging political engagement through the all-party group (APG) on eating disorders and disordered eating. I chair that APG, and some of its members are here today. The APG recognises that this is an illness that affects everyone and it will seek to bring focus to the issue. All positive progress should be recognised, but challenges do remain. Research suggests that one in six children and young people is showing a pattern of disordered eating. Furthermore, the population of eating disorder admissions to the general adolescent inpatient unit tripled between 2019 and 2024. It is by no means exclusive to them, but many of those are young girls. Those trends underline the urgency of action. At the time that the mental health strategy was published, it was acknowledged that securing the necessary funding would be challenging and would likely need collaboration across government. I recognise that, and I also recognise and note the support that the Minister of Health has shown. Over the past 18 months, the Minister and his departmental officials have engaged with key stakeholders, including the charity Beat and clinical experts in the field. It would be wrong of me not to note that. I have to reflect, however, that my personal experience of supporting a young girl 10 years ago was very different. When I was doing that, there was very patchy clinical support, and often the expertise was very far away, maybe in London or Liverpool. It was very far away from the home network that that young lady relied on. Mary, who was in her early 20s, ended up experiencing a very mixed bag of clinical and consultant care. Thankfully, Mary's story is one that is redemptive. She recovered, she beat her illness and she is now helping others to do the same. However, so many of the friends that she met in hospitals and other units died. We saw their obituaries on Facebook. Last week, there was a celebration of 20 years of the eating disorder service in Northern Ireland. I have to be very honest and say that my personal experience of walking with a young lady through that service is not something that I would choose to celebrate. We cannot place that on the Minister, but I thought, as I attended that meeting, that my experience was very different. I believe that, in order to make progress, we need to set a clear time frame. Of course, Minister, I am talking about the business case to enhance the regional eating disorder service. People living with eating disorders and their families cannot afford indefinite delays. Timely decisions will help to translate plans and strategies into real care. The Minister cannot be held accountable for Mary's experience of the service 10 years ago, but we do encourage him to take steps now — actions that will improve the service for young girls and boys now and for those coming in the future. We cannot change the past, as we all know in this Chamber, but we can shape the future to be better than the past. Today I ask you, Minister, what the timescale is for the business case. I am sure that it is there in your lines. Do you believe that you will be able to sign it off in the current mandate? In closing, eating disorders are serious, complex and often hidden illnesses, but recovery is possible. The key is early intervention, and lying behind that are effective services, supportive communities and sustained commitment from policymakers. All of that combined can make a difference and perhaps lead to a redemptive story such as Mary's. I hope that we can achieve that. I thank everyone for coming and being part of the debate, and I urge Members to support the motion.

You are forgiven. It is OK.

1,370 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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