We accept referrals from community eating disorder services.

All of our hospitals have specific admission criteria relevant to the service and support that they offer.

Referrals will be reviewed by the hospital's multidisciplinary team and admissions for inpatient treatment are planned with the hospital, referrer and patient.

Please note, unfortunately we are unable to take self-referrals for NHS services. For treatment to be funded through the NHS, this will need to be discussed with a local community eating disorder service.

For information on how to access treatment via private medical insurance (PMI), or to self-pay, please view our dedicated private eating disorder page.

To make a placement, call our 24/7 referral line on 0800 691 1481 or click here.

From a patient’s first contact with us, we listen to views and goals around admission, involving them in treatment decisions. Entering into treatment for an eating disorder can be a daunting prospect and it is sometimes difficult to make decisions about certain aspects of treatment, especially involving food choices and taking part in activities which may impact on physical health.

We always try to incorporate a patient’s wishes into the care plan as much as possible and carefully explain the reasons for this if it not always possible. In the early stages of admission we carry out a holistic assessment of social, psychological and physical needs as well as starting to set short, medium and long-term goals.

As treatment progresses we support a patient in taking more control of recovery and work with them to develop an awareness of likes, interests and needs in all areas of their life.

We always try to involve families and carers in the care package, in a way that supports confidentiality but will also improve communication, often crucial in maintaining progress. Their views and support of treatment are an important part of recovery and we offer family therapy to help with this process, along with a more informal carers’ support group.

The aim of these sessions is to help families and carers to understand how their loved one feels, as well as gaining an understanding of how they feel so that we can improve relationships as a patient moves through treatment.

Carers, family and friends of people with eating disorders who provide continuing help and support to loved ones, can find out more information by clicking here.

It is important for us to understand if the treatment we are offering is leading to improvement. There are a number of ways we do this, including informally (listening to feedback) and formally (carrying out questionnaires and surveys). There are also a range of audits we carry out to make sure we are reaching quality standards.

In order to measure progress, we have a number of objective measures we carry out on admission through to discharge. The main ones include:

• Health Of The Nation Outcomes Scores (HONOS) – measures mood, anxiety, relationships and quality of life
• Eating disorders examination (EDE) – specifically measures eating disorder symptoms

All of this information is regularly reviewed and we continually reflect upon how we can change our practice, to make further improvements to the treatments we offer.

The CPA forms the basis of how we deliver inpatient care. We ensure that a patient is fully involved in defining the goals and treatment objectives within the care plan, and this provides the opportunity to review progress throughout the treatment programme. CPA review meetings take place every six to eight weeks and involve professionals and family members.

Discharge planning commences from the point of admission and we engage patients, carers and home teams in looking at goals for treatment very early on. Knowing what services are available locally will have an impact on the goals of admission as we aim to keep the admission as short as possible, so that patients can return to the community as soon as it is safe to do so.

We work with home teams to put together a robust discharge care plan, relapse prevention plan and crisis contacts. As well as emotional support, a large part of a discharge plan will be to develop structure, self-esteem, confidence and a sense of purpose. This may include helping with further education and various forms of paid and unpaid work, as well as exploring leisure activities.

In preparation for discharge we will also organise increased periods of home leave to help with the transition. Prior to discharge, each patient will have a discharge CPA meeting together with their community team, and family and carers if appropriate.

Our patients are often physically unwell when they enter treatment. Our first aim is to help them to begin to restore their physical health, which involves taking in nutrition in a way a patient is most comfortable with. Close physical monitoring also takes place, which includes blood tests, and electrocardiogram (ECG) readings, pulse, blood pressure and temperature. Everybody responds differently to this process and we have to monitor patients very closely, until it is safer to reduce the frequency.

We offer support around mealtimes to help individuals cope with this stressful time. Our philosophy is to help everybody to eat solid food but our teams understand there will be times when nutritional drinks and nasogastric tubes may be needed, to ensure that patients are taking in the adequate amount of nutrition.

Eating disorders usually develop as a way of coping with intolerable feelings, so it is essential that we provide a full therapy programme to help patients to manage these thoughts and feelings. We provide a mixture of individual and group therapies which we adapt to meet an individual’s particular needs.

Patients will have an individual therapist throughout treatment who will help them to explore difficulties in a one-to-one setting. We offer focused therapy including:

• Psychodynamic mantra
• Mentalisation-based therapy
• Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)

The group programme provides a variety of ways to help patients through their recovery. There are various groups to help address difficult issues in a practical way, for example:

• Cookery groups
• Trips out to enjoy leisure activities
• Groups which help individuals to process their feelings

Some of these groups are mainly verbal and others help patients through non-verbal means, for example, art, drama and dance therapy. There are also physically active groups which help patients  put exercise back into a healthier way of life.

We also provide a key nurse who will be a guide through treatment, providing regular support through individual sessions called ‘key-work’, and in less formal settings on the ward. The ward doctor and consultant will review physical health and mental state regularly and may suggest medication if appropriate. This will be discussed and patients will have the opportunity to ask any questions.

We have a large multidisciplinary team involved in care. A consultant psychiatrist directs treatment and meets with patients regularly, whilst the rest of the team provide treatment and support on a daily basis. It is therefore important that we all work as a team and share information so that we can deliver care most effectively. The team also includes:

• Nurses
• Doctors
• A dietitian
• Family therapists
• Occupational therapists
• Psychotherapists
• Psychologists