An eating disorder sufferer was refused professional help as her weight "wasn't low enough", she claims.
Alice Sotero, from Rumney, Cardiff, was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa in 2018 but was reluctant to seek support despite regularly not eating to the point she struggled to walk or talk.
It was the 27-year-old's parents who pushed her to go to her GP and other healthcare professionals - though she found many had "little experience" with eating disorders, reports Wales Online.
Alice said the lack of expertise led to "some hurtful and unhelpful comments" about her weight not being low enough and her generally not being "poorly enough".
"That was really difficult for my parents to hear," she continued. "Just as they were getting somewhere they were met with another barrier."
Eventually, Alice was able to find more suited professionals - but said the support in Wales is "rather limited".
"When I did ask for help it often felt like I wasn't heard which then made my eating disorder worse," she said.
At first, she was pointed to a community mental health team involving support workers, psychologists and dieticians, but was "too high risk" and unwilling to engage with them.
When she became more "entrenched" in her illness, Alice ended up having two inpatient admissions - one to a general medical ward and another to a mental health unit.
She said such settings "are not appropriate" for eating disorder patients and place "additional demands" on staff there who aren't trained to deal with such conditions.
Alice's life changed for the better when she was admitted to a specialist eating disorder unit in England where appropriately trained staff enabled her to "make steps towards recovery".
Despite being grateful for the help outside Wales, she said moving away was difficult during such a vulnerable time and believes her home country must look at providing similar specialised units.
Fully recovered, Alice is now a second-year psychology student at the University of South Wales.
"I have now reframed my experience as it has shaped me in many wonderful ways," she said.
The student now volunteers for the eating disorder charity Beat as an ambassador to promote awareness through my experience, but also as peer support for those currently struggling.
Beat has published a new report this week which looks at the progress made since a review was submitted to the Welsh Government in 2018.
It found that while some progress has been made to expand and improve services for the 60,000 people in Wales with an eating disorder, this progress has been "very uneven".
Beat's national officer for Wales, Jo Whitfield, said: "We know that accessing the right treatment quickly leads to the best chance of making a full recovery, and it is encouraging to see that some progress has been made.
"Implementing our recommendations would enable the Welsh Government and NHS Wales to transform these services across the whole nation, ensuring that everyone affected in Wales can access life-changing support quickly."
In response to the report, a Welsh Government spokeswoman said: "We have continued to invest in eating disorder services and since 2017, health boards have received an additional £3.8m to support improvements, in line with the 2018 Eating Disorder Review. We are considering the finding of the report by Beat to inform next steps."
If you’re worried about your own or someone else’s health, you can contact Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, 365 days a year on 0808 801 0433 or beateatingdisorders.org.uk
