Hansard

Mr Stewart makes a constructive and helpful suggestion, and I am happy to commit to take it forward. Implicit in his point is the recognition that, although it is one thing to have excellent resources and to acknowledge that they are being utilised, it is another to ensure that we are maximising their use, so that everyone who can benefit from them truly has the opportunity to do so.

Strengthening eating disorder training for health and social care professionals is also a priority, to ensure that they can recognise early signs of eating disorders and understand the complexity of those conditions. The Scottish Government has been working with NHS Education for Scotland to enhance and expand the eating disorder guidance, training and evidence-based resources that are available on Turas.

Work is progressing to produce primary care training videos that focus on recognising and communicating physical risk. We have sought input from Beat’s lived experience panel, to ensure that the content is realistic and sensitive. Scottish Government funding for Beat also supports training to further build the understanding of eating disorders among clinicians, educators, healthcare professionals, academics and people who are out in the community providing support.

I will highlight some of our wider efforts to improve support. Over the past two years, we have provided just over £4.5 million across the west, east and north of Scotland to support the development of regional elements of the CAMHS service specification. That work is helping to strengthen pathways, workforce capacity and alternatives to in-patient care. In the north of Scotland, that includes the progression of intensive home treatment programmes. That work focuses on strengthening home-based alternatives to hospital admissions, improving co-ordination across boards and ensuring that young people who can be safely supported at home are able to access timely specialist care in their own communities. Those will be vital additions to Scotland’s children and young people’s mental health services, and they sit alongside the vital work that third sector organisations such as Beat do to support those with eating disorders—work that we are proud to support.

I take this opportunity to encourage anyone who might need support for an eating disorder to speak with their GP and to make use of the resources that I have highlighted today. I will endeavour to circulate those to all members of the Parliament, to ensure that as many people as possible can access the right support as soon as possible.

I again thank Elena Whitham for lodging the motion for debate, and I thank all members for their contributions. Of course, I very much recognise that we still have work to do to deliver on the recommendations from the national review. However, I assure all those in the chamber and those listening that improving support for those with an eating disorder is a top priority for me and for this Government.

Meeting closed at 20:45.