‘Excellent’ NHS team win award
AN NHS team that supports young people with an eating disorder has won an award for providing excellent care.
The community eating disorders service is part of Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust which manages medical services across Rochdale.
The annual awards aim to recognise teams that demonstrate excellence and this year was the most competitive to date.
The service is for young people who have an eating disorder, such as anorexia or bulimia. They provide specialist care and support in the community to help young people avoid having to be admitted to hospital, or to be safely discharged more quickly.
The types of support available include one-toone or group therapy, support for families, workshops and even meal time support in people’s own homes.
Hannah has described her emotional journey and how the team has helped her. She said: “I have anorexia and it took everything I was away from me. I lost my personality and it changed me. My eating disorder started mentally in 2015 and in 2016 the physical symptoms started. I was bullied in high school; I was called names and told I was fat. So I stopped going to school and stopped eating until I felt good enough in me, for them.
“I feel I’ve achieved many of my goals. I got discharged from hospital, I have a job and I’ve started college again. I’ve got a life and friends and I’m quite happy.”
Another service user, Jade, 19, added: “I have anorexia and it almost took my life away from me. When I was discharged in February 2017 I was referred to the community eating disorders service straight away.
“I find it easy to talk to them because they can understand you completely.
“They can also help to prevent a re-lapse, by providing continual support every single week for you.”
Vicky Brown, clinical lead for the north community eating disorders team, said: “The team works so hard to make a real difference to the life of every single young person we see.
“We are here to support them every step of the way. “It’s hard to describe the feeling of pride we feel when our young people are doing well and achieving positive things in their life. We are so proud to have won this award and would like to dedicate to the young people we care for.”