The Latest Breaking News from Hope Virgo

Mental health units discharging eating disorder patients with ‘dangerously low’ BMIs

FoI request reveals some people sent home despite BMIs below 15 – considered to be ‘severe malnutrition’

The Guardian - UK · Feb 27

Don’t rely on BMI alone when diagnosing eating disorders in children, says NHS England

Guidance for GPs and nurses says other factors should be taken into account, such as changes in behaviour

The Guardian - UK · Jan 20

Your illness worsens – so care is cut off. This is the scandal playing out in eating disorder treatment

Patients I’ve spoken to in the east of England were desperate for help, with dangerously low BMIs. On what possible grounds were they discharged?, asks Guardian columnist John Harris

The Guardian - UK · Feb 25, 2024

Jeff Stelling shares heartfelt message after tearful Sky statement on eating disorders

Jeff Stelling used his penultimate appearance on Sky Sports programme Soccer Saturday to give an impassioned plea to the Government over their lack of action on eating disorders

Daily Mirror · May 21, 2023

Jeff Stelling tears up on Sky Sports as he delivers emotional message on eating disorders

Jeff Stelling has announced that he will be leaving Sky Sports at the end of the season and used one of his final shows to send a strong message to the Government about the lack of treatment for those suffering with eating disorders

Daily Mirror · May 20, 2023

MPs told of long wait before response to child eating disorders improves

Claire Murdoch, NHS England’s national mental health lead, told MPs it will take at least two years for new guidance to be consistently implemented.

The Independent UK · Apr 20, 2023

UK eating disorder patients face rationing of care, psychiatrists say

Exclusive: union says severely ill patients being discharged as they are not getting better quickly enough

The Guardian - UK · Mar 10, 2023

NHS England spends £10m sending eating disorder patients to Scotland

A bed shortage for patients suffering from eating disorders means more than 100 women have been transferred from England to Scotland since 2017

The National (Scotland) · Jun 3, 2022

Nobody should be dying of an eating disorder in England in 2022

Inpatient admissions should be a last resort, but rates are soaring, says campaigner Hope Virgo

The Guardian - UK · May 19, 2022

Campaigners call for end to ‘destructive’ calorie labelling in open letter to government

With 16 per cent of the adult population screening positive for an eating disorder, and millions more suffering from one, the letter calls for the suspension of calorie labelling on menus

The Independent UK · Apr 12, 2022