-
The service offers assessment and treatment in the community for young people up to the age of 18 with an eating disorder who are registered with a GP in Wandsworth, Merton, Sutton, Kingston or Richmond.
- Service Type: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
- Service Contact: CAMHSEatingDisorder@swlstg.nhs.uk
- Service Category: Community
- Disabled access: Our building does not have disabled access, however we will make all reasonable attempts to book an alternative room which does have disabled access to facilitate accessing appointments.
- Address: Elizabeth Newton Building (Entrance 7), Springfield University Hospital, Elizabeth Newton Way, London, SW17 0YG
- Reception hours: Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm
- Reception phone number: 0203 513 6793
About our care
The primary intervention for anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and related eating disorders is family therapy. Treatment usually consists of 20-25 sessions over a period of 6-9 months, however in some cases treatment may be shorter or longer than this.
The interventions and support offered includes:
- Family therapy including meal planning
- Dietition review if there are additional or unusual dietary needs
- Psychiatric/medication review if indicated
- Support groups for parents
- Support groups for young people on coping with anxiety and emotion dysregulation
The sessions aim to help families understand more about eating disorders and have a strong focus on making changes that will support the young person to increase their eating and return to a healthy weight, or if they are at a healthy weight, regulate their eating and manage compensatory behaviours.
It includes support for the young person and their family to manage emotions and address factors that maintain the eating disorder and get in the way of recovery.
Assessments include a baseline comprehensive physical assessment and medical monitoring plan, which may be provided by the service or in conjuction with a GP. The service also has a specialist paediatric assessment clinic at the Dragon Children's Centre at St George’s Hospital in Tooting.
Assessment of additional mental health needs will be done as required, which may result in signposting/onward referral for further interventions for other mental health needs beyond treatment of the eating disorder.
Who is this service for?
The service is for children and young people with eating disorders. They may be struggling with symptoms such as significant weight loss, restricted eating, bingeing and purging, or other compensatory behaviours.
Referrals and access
The service accepts referrals from any professional using the referral form, however please be aware that up-to-date physical information is often required which is usually best completed by a GP. GPs must refer using the Electronic Referral Service (e-RS).
Self-referrals will be reviewed by the referrals team, but the service may need to consult with the patient's GP for the referral to be processed.
