National Review of Eating Disorder Services Implementation Group minutes: April 2022

Attendees and apologies

Co-chairs

• Dennis Robertson
• Dr Charlotte Oakley

Members

• Dr Annabel Ross
• Dr Joy Olver
• Dr Karen McMahon
• Dr Paula Collin
• Susan Hynes
• Dr Lesley Pillans
• Fiona Huffer
• Diane Kane
• Dr Helen Smith
• Johnathan Maclennan
• Officials from the Scottish Government (SG)

Apologies

• Fiona Duffy
• Gerald Donnelly
• Dr Stephen Anderson
• Dr Fiona Calder

Items and actions

Welcome and introductions from co-chairs

The chairs opened the fifth meeting of the national review of eating disorder services implementation group and welcomed members to the meeting. Apologies for the meeting were noted.

Approval of previous meeting minutes

The chairs highlighted to members that the minutes from the previous meeting in February were shared by email and asked for final confirmation that members were content. Members confirmed they were happy for the minutes to be published online.

Updates from working groups

The data working group met for the first time on 10 March. The group firstly discussed membership and agreed that it would be important to include colleagues from ISD/PHS and those with lived experience. It was agreed that beat would investigate if any of their volunteers had an interest in data and would be interested in joining the group, the group agreed this might be tricky due to the nature of data and how this isn't something that patients and their families usually engage with. It was also agreed that the group required more input from adult mental health colleagues and a more even rural and urban split. Further invites to join the group will be issued.

The group then discussed the draft terms of reference. Alternations and amendments were made to ensure that it covered those engaging with services only, due to the difficulty in recording information of those that do not interact with services (both NHS and third sector). The group discussed the outcomes of the group, which included the possibility of recommending a wider study on population so that those not engaging with services could be covered. Although the group recognised that this would be difficult.

The group agreed that the quality standards would be important to data collection as these could be monitored through the group's final data set. The group discussed the issue around self-referral and whether this will impact data collection.

The group finally discussed the potential to hold a scoping exercise with boards to understand what data they currently collect right now so we can understand the minimum data that is recorded.

The quality standards working group was meeting on 29 April and an update would be shared after this meeting.

The training and skills working group to provide a written update.

Update and discussion on recommendation 5 public health strategy

Charlotte provided a presentation on the establishment of a public health strategy on eating disorders. Feedback from members highlighted concerns about who would deliver on this strategy, how do we keep its momentum, and how we proactively manage the strategy. Members discussed the importance of ensuring that whoever had the responsibility of taking forward the strategy in the national network having the right skills to do this. It was agreed that the development of the public health strategy should be an objective of the national network.

Discussion on National Eating Disorder Network

The secretariat provided a presentation on initial ideas for the national eating disorder network. This was based on the ideas presented by the national review of eating disorder services. Members were asked for their feedback on:

Who should the network be staffed by?

What should the core aim of the national network be?

What should the network focus on in its first year?

Initial thoughts from members outlined that it would be important to outline what early wins the Network could achieve to ensure momentum isn’t lost. Members agreed that the development of a website could be an early objective to deliver to highlight training, self-help resources and signposting to support. Members discussed if the website could act as a patient experience focal point, to allow for patients to share their experiences directly with the network. This could allow for their feedback to directly shape the network’s objectives and actions.

Members also raised that the website could hold a regular bulletin or publicise webinars or masterclasses to ensure that training was shared widely.

Members discussed the importance of moving away from focusing on professional groups and focus on the skills and interest they have instead. Therefore that network staff should not be selected based on their profession.

Close of meeting and any other business

Meeting closed at 12:30.

Next meeting agreed as 10 June at 11:30 to 12:30.