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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Dorothy Dunn

If I’d been given palliative care when I had an eating disorder, I would not be here today

A protester in London holds a placard stating 'No one should be dying of an eating disorder in 2023', during a march demanding that the government funds services and research into eating disorders, in May 2023.
‘More accessible services, with permanent, well-trained staff, would make a huge difference.’
Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Sopa Images/Shutterstock

The leaking of NHS documents last week describing how patients with longstanding eating disorders could be offered palliative care under new guidelines in the east of England was shocking but not unexpected. The very fact that these severe and enduring eating disorder (Seed) treatment pathways exist at all is scandalous.

A running joke among service users is that the Seed treatment pathway is where you go when services have given up on you. Outpatient services seemingly don’t know how to treat these patients other than to manage terminal decline. But inpatient services don’t, either – the fact that palliative options are even on the table shows that.

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