Management of transitions to adult services for young people with eating disorders: survey of current practice in England

Abstract

Aims and method: The Royal College of Psychiatrists has published recommendations for managing transitions between child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) and adult services for eating disorders. A self-report questionnaire was designed to establish how many CAMHS teams meet these recommendations and was distributed to 70 teams providing eating disorders treatment in England.

Results: Of the 38 services that participated, 31 (81.6%) reported a flexible upper age limit for treatment. Only 6 services (15.8%) always transferred young people to a specialist adult eating disorders service and the majority transferred patients to either a specialist service or a community mental health team. Most services complied with recommended provision such as a written transition protocol (52.6%), individualised transition plans (78.9%), joint care with adult services (89.5%) and transition support for the family (73.7%).

Clinical implications: Services are largely compliant with the recommendations. It is a concern that only a small proportion of services are always able to refer to a specialist adult service and this is likely to be due to a relative lack of investment in adult services.