A group of MPs, including Wera Hobhouse, have signed a letter to the Department of Health, calling for the government to take serious action to tackle eating disorders.
Hope Virgo with Bath MP Wera Hobhouse
The letter, written by campaigner Hope Virgo, asks the government to provide better communications, better training, and effective leadership in tackling eating disorders.
Hope Virgo started the #DumpTheScales campaign in response to being told that she wasn’t thin enough to receive treatment for anorexia. Her petition has more than 70,000 signatures, which she delivered to 10 Downing Street in April, alongside Bath MP Wera Hobhouse.
But Hope says that the response she received from the Minister for Mental Health, Inequalities and Suicide Prevention, Jackie Doyle-Price appears to show the government is not taking the issue seriously.
Hope said: “It was frustrating to receive such a standard response from the Minister. Anorexia has the highest mortality rate out of any psychiatric disorder, and the government do not appear to be taking this seriously.
“All the MPs who have signed my letter are, the 70,000 people who signed my petition are, and it’s high time the government does as well.”
Wera Hobhouse, the primary signatory of the letter, who recently set up the All Party Parliamentary Group for Eating Disorders, said: “Eating Disorders cause an untold amount of human suffering, and can result in death. This is not a fluffy liberal argument, this is a matter of life and death, and we know what we need to do.
“We need to intervene earlier, train junior doctors better, focus GPs on mental health, and improving waiting times.”
Hope added: “We are going to keep campaigning on this until there are real actions by government to improve treatment for people with eating disorders. The time for warm words is over.”
