There are no dedicated eating disorder inpatient beds at the 20-bed Child and Adult Mental Health Service facility (CAMHS ) in Galway despite a sharp increase having been recorded in hospital admissions for eating disorders in Ireland during the pandemic. There was a 66 per cent increase reported in 2020 compared to 2019, according to the Irish Medical Journal.
Galway is without both an adult specialist eating disorder hub and an adult specialist eating disorder team. Services for people with eating disorders are provided by community outpatient clinics and the adult acute mental health unit.
A meeting of the HSE West’s regional health forum was told recently that an additional four senior dieticians are being recruited to bolster the health authority’s community mental health team and it is continuing to advocate for a full adult eating disorder team for the area.
The CAMHS unit has a senior dietician and a clinical nurse specialist available to address the needs of service users presenting with eating disorder requirements.
Any naso-gastric feeding is undertaken following District Court approval being given to an application by the CAMHS consultant psychiatrists. The procedure is carried out following best practice by nursing staff who have specialist training in this procedure.
