'We're not heard' - Lack of supports for those with eating disorders examined in RTÉ's Prime Time

Tonight, RTÉ Prime Time will broadcast a special report revealing the failure to deliver services to help children and adults with eating disorders which have dramatically increased following a “tsunami” of referrals post the COVID-19 pandemic.

The programme spent several weeks filming with families to capture the challenges they face on a daily basis.

Experts will detail how despite the implementation of a new model of care in 2018 aimed at establishing multidisciplinary teams nationwide, six years later significant gaps in services remain. 

There was a plan to have 16 service teams in place, however, at present only 11 are operational, exacerbating the challenges faced by individuals seeking treatment.

There are no CAMHS (Child & Adolescence Mental Health Services) or Child and Adolescent eating disorder teams in place in the Northwest, Midlands, or in the Mid-West.
 
Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Fiona McNicholas tells Prime Time: 

“Post Covid, what we saw was an increased referrals of eating disorder internationally. They referred to it as a tsunami of eating disorders, and we saw that again here in Ireland.” 

The HSE currently operates four CAMHS inpatient psychiatric units – one in Cork, one in Galway and two in Dublin. At full capacity, these would provide 72 inpatient beds, but there are currently only 51 available. Previously there were 20 dedicated eating disorder beds, these have now been reduced to just 16.

One of those who struggled to access the necessary services for their child is Amy Hanley, a mother who shares her journey navigating the healthcare system for her daughter diagnosed with an eating disorder during the pandemic, highlighting long wait times for treatment.

She became aware that her daughter was skipping meals, shortly after she started secondary school, she tells RTÉ Prime Time,

“That’s kind of when we realised there is a serious problem here and we brought her to the GP…she was referred on to CAMHS and she got her appointment with CAMHS in August 2022. So, a year and a half she was on the waitlist for a mental illness with the highest mortality rate. She was waiting so long that it gave it time to really get its grips in her.”
 
Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness, underscoring the critical need for comprehensive and timely interventions addressing both the physical symptoms and the underlying psychological causes.

Speaking to Prime Time, Harriet Parsons of Bodywhys said,

“I don't think that the public do have a recognition that eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder. The figure for mortality rate with females with anorexia is 200 times the suicide rate for females, it shows us how serious it is as an illness.”
 
RTÉ Prime Time previously spoke to Paula Crotty in 2016 when her daughter Jennifer's battle with anorexia reached a critical juncture, leading to her being made a ward of court to ensure life-saving treatment. Jennifer has since died.

Speaking to RTÉ Prime Time tonight Paula details her daughter’s struggle and highlights the need for better services and support for families,

“Jennifer didn't want to die, but she didn't want to live like this.” 

She continued, 

“There are some good CAHMS programs out there. There are some new hubs, but there’s still not enough. We're not heard. We don't have a voice. There is no parent representative on the National Clinical Programme – Eating Disorders committee group. We want you to hear what it's like in our homes.”  
 
An eating disorder is a mental illness that causes physical symptoms. It requires both psychiatric and medical treatment. For Lauren Gaffney, like many others, her eating disorder was a compulsion driven not by body image or a desire to be thin. 

“I didn't fuel myself enough for the amount of things that I was doing every day. That's how I was coping with life. And unfortunately, restriction became my coping, my existence.”
 
The 28-year-old student teacher spoke to RTÉ Prime Time about the challenges she faces accessing appropriate care due to BMI restrictions.

Lauren told RTÉ Prime Time reporter Conor Wilson,

“I'm unwell and I'm struggling, and I need support, but yet I'm not at a heavy enough position in order to receive support. Our (mental) health professionals will only engage with me if I'm a certain BMI.

“I need the help and support to increase my weight to get to the BMI, but there is nobody there who can offer me that support unless I go, and I present myself to a hospital and be put on a medical ward for refeeding. Because I'm not heavy enough, but I'm too sick for support…my threshold is not the magic number to receive help and support.”  
 
Following this special report, the programme will feature an interview with Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for mental health, Mary Butler TD.
 
Tonight’s special report is by RTÉ Prime Time reporter Conor Wilson and producer Sally-Anne Godson.
 
Watch Prime Time tonight Thursday April 25th, at 9:35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.