The Issue of Negligence and Delayed Treatment for Eating Disorders

According to the world-renowned Priory Group, between 1.25 and 3.4 million people in the UK are adversely impacted by having an eating disorder.

Some 75% of these are female, although the evidence suggests that various types of eating disorders are becoming increasingly prevalent among male patients.

However, there’s an ongoing issue of delayed treatment relating to eating disorders. But why is this the case, and is it having an impact on the number of medical negligence claims on these shores?

How a Rise in Cases is Causing Treatment Delays

According to one of the most recent updates from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the UK, it’s widely accepted by healthcare providers that anyone affected by eating disorders should always have access to viable treatment options.

What’s more, this should be provided by qualified and skilled workers at the earliest opportunity, with no notable exceptions to this rule.

However, specialist services that deal directly with a diverse range of eating disorders continue to suffer from long waiting lists, which is considerably worse than the average within the wider healthcare system.

This is largely being driven by the huge increase in diagnosed eating disorders in the UK, which has occurred as such conditions have benefited from far greater understanding. Another factor is the complex and strict referral criteria, which can create delays between attending a GP and seeing a specialist in the field.

One such item of criteria is that a patient must display critically low weight and a BMI of between 13 and 16 to be referred for immediate help, creating a significant gap when it comes to capturing people who are in the early stages of developing a disorder.

Is This Leading to an Increase in Medical Negligence?

There are two key issues here. Firstly, it’s clear that diagnostic delays and a lack of available specialist care is highly damaging for those suffering from eating disorders, particularly when you consider the importance of early recognition and the need to source both treatment and continued support.

Secondly, the increased potential for missed and misdiagnosis is creating a heightened risk from the perspective of medical negligence.

Even according to a 2009 study commissioned by the Imperial Centre for Patient Safety and Service Quality, some 15% of all diagnoses were thought to be erroneous and evidence of a clinician mistake.

One such case study saw a Norfolk couple complete a successful medical negligence claim after their daughter sadly passed away as a result of an eating disorder.

The claim was made against Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health Trust after continued treatment delays were revealed to be the main contributor to the death of the patient.

Given that the number of potential eating disorder cases have increased sharply as awareness has continued to grow over the last decade, such issues are likely to become more commonplace (making large-scale medical negligence claims far more likely in the process).

The Last Word

Of course, prompt treatment relies on accurate and efficient diagnosis, and there’s no doubt that the current criteria required for referrals are posing as big a danger as the eating disorders themselves.

After all, a critically low weight, BMI and malnutrition aren’tthe only indicators of an eating disorder (although it’s the most clinically obvious), and healthcare trusts must be proactive when seeking out the other telltale triggers for intervention when examining patients.

Certainly, new, and more complex eating disorders have emerged over the course of the last decade, which can be diagnosed according to different criteria and following a prompt consultation with a specialist in the field.