COSMOPOLITAN'S THE SECRET ILLNESS CAMPAIGN AND EATING DISORDER PROVISION

That this House commends The Secret Illness campaign by Cosmopolitan Magazine which highlights the scale of untreated eating disorders in the UK; notes that the NHS's capacity to treat people seriously ill with eating disorders is so restricted that many sufferers and their parents are told to wait until the health of the sufferer has declined dangerously; agrees that no doctor would tell a cancer patient to go away until their illness got worse, yet this is what is happening in thousands of cases; urges people to write to their GP in support of the campaign to request a review of UK eating disorder provision; recognises the great expertise which exists within the UK but warns that such experts often operate within seriously underfunded local mental health services; further commends the work of the eating disorder charity, BEAT; and requests that the Government takes full and appropriate steps to address what is a rapidly growing national health crisis.