Who can refer to our service and what are the referral criteria?
- General Practitioner (GP)
- Community Mental Health Team
- Other Medical or Mental Health Professionals
Please Note: We unfortunately do not accept self-referrals to our service. If you think you or someone close to you may have an eating disorder and want to seek help, please speak with one of the healthcare professionals mentioned above.
Referrals are accepted for all eating disorder diagnoses, including:
- ARFID (Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder)
- AN (Anorexia Nervosa)
- BED (Binge Eating Disorder)
- BN (Bulimia Nervosa)
- OSFED (Other Specified Feeding and Eating Disorder)
What we need from your referrer:
Your referrer will need to us your:
- Most recent weight
- Height
- Results from some basic blood tests, including your Urea, Electrolytes and full blood count. This helps us understand your physical health and make sure any issues are noticed early.
It Is important for us to know about your physical health as well as your mental health. We use this information to help decide who may need the most urgent care.
What happens if your eating disorder changes after you’ve been referred?
- We understand that eating disorders can change over time. If things get harder for you before your treatment starts, you can ask your GP to contact us for an update. We will reassess your situation and may change how quickly we see you.
How long will you have to wait to be seen?
- We aim to offer an initial screening assessment within 6-8weeks. After that, we aim to start treatment within 18 weeks, however, this is subject to clinician availability.
- If you referral is urgent, we aim to start treatment within 8 weeks.
- If you are at high risk due to your eating disorder, we aim to process your referral within 48 hours (Monday to Friday) and arrange an initial assessment and plan with 7 days.
The urgency of referrals is based upon assessing acute medical risk factors alongside an understanding of how a range of additional difficulties may increase the risk:
- If you have a very low Body Mass Index (BMI)
- If you are already low weight and are continuing to lose weight rapidly
- If you are currently experiencing any serious medical symptoms (e.g. loss of consciousness, marked muscle weakness, blood or ECG abnormalities)
- If you have any existing medical condition (e.g. insulin dependent diabetes, liver or heat conditions)
- If you have a significant alcohol or drug misuse problem
- If you are pregnant
- If you have lost more than 20% of your body weight within 6 months
Help from General Adult Services:
- We know eating disorders can cause difficult and sometimes frightening feelings. If you feel hopeless, suicidal, or are going through a crisis, please reach out to general mental health services for help.
- After your assessment with us, we may also suggest working with other services to make sure you get the right care.
