TDs and Senators to hear ‘failures’ to treat eating disorder sufferers

By Cate McCurry, PA

Members of the Oireachtas will hear “deeply personal testimonies” from eating disorder sufferers and their carers as they “expose the failures” of Ireland’s healthcare system.

Cared Ireland, a voluntary support group advocating for urgent improvements in eating disorder treatment services and support for families navigating a broken system, will address TDs and Senators in Leinster House on Wednesday.

Facilitated by Social Democrats TD Liam Quaide, the briefing is led by Paula Crotty of Cared Ireland, who lost her daughter Jennifer to anorexia less than two years ago.

The briefing comes amid mounting frustration over the government’s failure to implement the HSE’s 2018 Model of Care for Eating Disorders, leaving an already fragile system unable to cope with the soaring number of cases.

Ireland has just three public inpatient beds for adults with eating disorders, a number unchanged in 20 years.

A recent report estimated that 23 additional adult inpatient beds are urgently needed, yet the government has failed to allocate funding and provide a timeline for their implementation.

Figures from the National Clinical Programme for Eating Disorders (NCPED), compiled for Eating Disorder Awareness Week, reveal a 51 per cent increase in adults accessing assessments in 2024 compared with 2023.

The numbers diagnosed with an eating disorder across all age groups increased 31 per cent year on year in 2024, with 503 compared with 385 in 2023, highlighting the alarming rise in cases and the system’s inability to cope.

Ciara Greene from Limerick, who has suffered with an eating disorder for 22 years, will also share her story together with mothers whose children are at various stages of treatment in Ireland and the UK.

 

Despite the HSE’s 2018 Model of Care for Eating Disorders’ commitment to establishing 16 specialist teams and dedicated inpatient beds, the group said the reality remains dire.

While 14 of 16 planned community treatment hubs are operational, they say many are incomplete or under resourced, while inpatient care has been dangerously neglected.

The College of Psychiatrists of Ireland has warned that resourcing for eating disorder services is in a “perilous” state.

Paula Crotty, founder of Cared Ireland, said: “Instead of investing in treatment at home, the HSE has increasingly relied on the Treatment Abroad Scheme (TAS), sending critically ill patients overseas at a total cost of 9.5 million euros in 2023 and 2024 alone.

“A stark contrast to the zero euros allocated for new adult inpatient beds in Ireland.

“Despite repeated warnings from medical experts, government inaction persists.

“Minister of State for Mental Health, Mary Butler, has previously claimed there is no need for additional inpatient beds, insisting that 90 per cent of people can be treated in the community – a statement that fails to acknowledge the severe gaps in specialist inpatient care and complexity of this disorder.

“The HSE claims that adults that require in-patient care can be referred to any of the HSE’s acute inpatient mental health services.

“These have proven to be inappropriate for treating eating disorder and often worsen the condition, as they are not managing the entirety of the eating disorder.

“This can only happen in a specialised treatment beds and centres.”

Cared Ireland calls on policymakers, healthcare leaders, and all those in positions of influence to attend tomorrow’s briefing and recognise the life-threatening consequences of inaction and to immediately allocate funding to implement the 2018 Model of Care in full.