Wednesday, 7 February 2024

Eating disorders

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (17:49): (683) My adjournment matter this evening is for the attention of the Minister for Mental Health, but it relates to the mental health unit at the Monash Children’s Hospital. The action I am seeking is for the minister to speak with her colleague the Minister for Health in sorting out this issue. The reason I raise it in mental health is because it relates to young people with eating disorders. As we know, this is a very severe disease that affects far too many young people, and there needs to be a lot of attention put on this. It has been widely reported that since the pandemic, when Victorians endured extended lockdowns, eating disorders in young people have skyrocketed. People have told me that within our hospital system, and certainly parents are raising it with me, yet the government funding has not kept pace with the huge increase in demand for these specialised treatment services that these young people actually need.

There are parents who are desperately seeking help. Vanessa’s daughter is 14 years old, she has been admitted to hospital around 15 times in the last two years for a severe eating disorder and she also has very complex mental health issues. Vanessa of course is deeply concerned that the current model of care at Monash Children’s Hospital is not addressing both the physical and the mental health aspects of the illness, which is leading to poorer outcomes, more hospital admissions and ongoing distress for patients and families. It is alarming that 40 per cent of young patients are readmitted after discharge. Vanessa and other parents in this situation are asking for promised changes to the system, such as longer stays in hospital to allow an acute episode to stabilise and medications to take effect as well as outpatient services in the community for those families with children that are affected by eating disorders to be supported in their homes so that they do not have these repeat presentations at our emergency departments.

While the government continues to delay the release of its eating disorders strategy, which was due last year, children with serious health issues are being denied access to appropriate treatment and discharged prematurely without support, leaving patients and families struggling to cope. As I said at the start of my adjournment, even though it does largely relate to what is happening at Monash Health, it is around eating disorders and mental health, so I would seek that the Minister for Mental Health work with her colleague the Minister for Health to really get this issue sorted, provide the support and care for children with severe eating disorders and so give support to not only those children but also the family members that are involved.