Paediatric Eating Disorder Service

Transcription

1 Paediatric Eating Disorder Service PROVIDING ACCESS TO SPECIALISED TREATMENT

2 2036 WILL MARK OUR STATE S BICENTENARY By the time our State turns 200 years old, I want South Australia to be a place of prosperity. Planning and delivering on my vision for a better future starts now. This policy is just part of our plan to deliver a clear and responsible pathway to recovery and success. See where it fits in below 1.0 Growing our Economy 2.0 The Best Education System 3.0 BEING A HEALTHY STATE 3.1 Protecting your health 3.2 Delivering person-centred care 3.3 Caring for mind and body 3.4 Making health care accessible across the city and across the State 4.0 Strengthening Communities 5.0 BUILDING OUR STATE 6.0 Ensuring Safety and Justice 7.0 Protecting our Environment 8.0 Embracing our Unique Culture 9.0 running an Efficient and STABLE Government

3 We will ensure children and young people with eating disorders have access to specialised treatment.

4 The Problem Eating disorder services are not available for children under the age of 15. Around 130 children and young people are treated for eating disorders in South Australia each year. Eating disorders are dangerous. Anorexia nervosa has the highest death rate of any mental illness. One in 10 anorexia suffers do not survive 10 years from the onset of illness, with suicides accounting for 20% of these deaths. While the Statewide Eating Disorder Service provides services and individual therapy for adults and adolescents over the age of 15 years, there is a gap for young people under 15 years. Currently, the main source of mental health support for children is the Flinders Paediatric Eating Disorder Service which operates within the Flinders Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service but receives no dedicated funding. Effective treatment can make a real difference to children with eating disorders. It requires early identification and access to specialist care, and is usually provided on an outpatient basis with a focus on family-based therapy. Evidence-based treatment is key to effective paediatric eating disorder care, with patients treated by specialist teams almost three times less likely to be admitted to hospital than those treated by non-specialist teams. Despite this, the Statewide Eating Disorder Service is not resourced to provide Family Therapy for patients under 15 years of age. Public outpatient services for paediatric eating disorders are dramatically understaffed compared with best practice. Children who need these services do not have access to them and it s just not good enough.

5 The State Liberals Plan We will commit $1 million a year to establish a paediatric-focused service within the Statewide Eating Disorder Service. If elected in March 2018, a Marshall Liberal Government will establish a dedicated and wellresourced paediatric eating disorder service. We will act on the pleas of patients, their families and clinicians and commit $1 million a year to establish a paediatric-focused service within the Statewide Eating Disorder Service. This funding will provide nine full-time medical and allied health clinicians and administrative support positions, with Local Health Networks providing some dietetic support. Clinicians will be dedicated to both inpatient and outpatient services, providing better and more cost-effective outcomes for patients and their families and addressing the gap in services for young people under 15. This will ensure best-practice services that will reduce the severity of the disorder and improve the patient s chance of recovery. Such services have been shown to be 50% less costly to deliver than treatment as usual. It is envisaged that a paediatric service could over time provide services at the Flinders Medical Centre, the Women s and Children s Hospital, the Lyell McEwin Hospital and, by telemedicine, to country sites.

6 A Liberal Government will ensure children have better long-term mental health outcomes. Steven Marshall, State Liberal Leader

7 If you would like to provide feedback on our policy or learn more about our plan, please get in touch via: The Office of Steven Marshall MP Parliament House - North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000 Phone: steven@stevenmarshall.com.au Web:

8 marshall2036.com.au