Hello, my name is Sarah, and I am the AMR and Infection Prevention Programme Manager at West Yorkshire ICB.
This blog comes from Dr Nisha Alex, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Medical Clinical Lead for Wakefield CAMHS (South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust) and Jo Rooney, Children and Young People’s Senior Commissioning and Transformation Manager (NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board).
Hello, our names are Nisha Alex and Jo Rooney,
November brought fantastic news for Wakefield Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) Eating Disorder team, as we won a prestigious national award at the RCPsych awards in London for Psychiatric Team of the Year: Children and Adolescents. The team was also a finalist in the category RCPsych Team of the year 2024-Quality Improvement category.
Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) is a diagnosis that places significant illness burden on young people and families but is under-recognised and under-treated.
In 2023, Wakefield CAMHS Eating Disorder team laid the foundation of an ARFID pathway in the first locally commissioned NHS service for ARFID in the area.
The ARFID pilot provided a group intervention for parents and carers, facilitated inter-agency multi-disciplinary team liaison, provided a timely intervention to young people and aimed to reduce health inequalities and improve access to treatment for this underserved population. The group was delivered by a senior mental health practitioner and specialist dietitian. Participants told us that the course significantly improved confidence and self-esteem among parents and carers as it made dietetic intervention available to families who had previously struggled to access a dietitian through traditional referral routes.
The pilot also provided valuable baseline data to inform future development of the service. Over a 12-month period, out of 145 referrals received, 128 young people were found to have ARFID type symptoms and were offered support via the parent and carers group.
In short, the team identified an unmet need and successfully created an inclusive service that places the voice of children, young people and their families at the heart, empowering them towards recovery and gaining control over their condition. The project was well-led and has provided an opportunity for rich data collection that will inform evidence-based services of the future, while supporting the development of team members who report feeling valued and proud to be pioneers of innovative practice.
In the words of one service user’s parent:
"The group has been phenomenal in helping me. Since attending the group, MR has tried 82 new food groups, and she ate out in public. This wouldn't have happened without the group… I feel more confident… the course has helped with the awareness and the fact I am not alone."
Thanks for reading,
Nisha and Jo
Congratulations to Dr Rani Khatib, Senior Consultant Pharmacist in Cardiology and Cardiovascular Research and Associate Professor at the Leeds Institute of Cardiometabolic Medicine (LICAMM), University of Leeds, who has been selected by NHS England as one of their National Specialty Advisors (NSA) as part of their Prevention and Long-Term Conditions team.