MP elected vice chair of new cross-party group on eating disorders

Local MP Tim Farron has been elected as a vice chair of a new all-party parliamentary group aimed at campaigning for earlier intervention and access to treatment for people with eating disorders.

Tim has long campaigned for better services for people with eating disorders in Cumbria and has been pushing local health bosses to fulfil their promise of a specialist one-to-one eating disorder service in South Cumbria.

Figures from the charity BEAT show that over three quarters of children with eating disorders in Cumbria aren't seen by a psychologist within the national standard of four weeks, while some have to wait over 12 weeks.

Tim said: "People with eating disorders here in Cumbria and across the rest of the country are being systematically failed.

"The early intervention that is needed simply isn't there and the lack of access to treatment, especially for our young people, is dire.

"I'm constantly staggered by the amount of people that write to me about how their child has been denied vital treatment because they weren't thin enough.

"Would somebody who had been diagnosed with stage 1 cancer be told 'clear off until you've got stage 4, come back when you're at death's door?'

"But that is how we treat people with mental health conditions, and in particular those living with eating disorders.

"As MPs we can only really change this by working across the aisle, so I'm delighted to be part of this new all-party group."