People of all ages throughout New Zealand are suffering due to a lack of treatment available for eating disorders, National’s Mental Health spokesperson Matt Doocey says.

Tomorrow Mr Doocey will accept a petition from Rebecca Tomms who is advocating for more expert care and subsidy assistance for young people with eating disorders.

“The current state of services available for those who have an eating disorder is hugely concerning. Frontline workers have reported cases doubling and tripling over the past year, but services to support New Zealand families remain non-existent,” Mr Doocey says.

“The only support available for families on waitlists for treatment, or those rejected from waitlists, is a volunteer group of six parents that the Ministry of Health refuses to fund.

“This is yet another example of the Government failing to manage mental health services across the board.

“We’ve seen a lot of announcements from Labour about its investment in mental health, but change isn’t happening on the coalface.

“Young Kiwis are suffering from a very treatable illness but aren’t receiving the support they need from our mental health services.

“We shouldn’t be giving parents End of Life plans for an illness that could be easily prevented with early intervention.”

Mr Doocey is calling on the Government to take responsibility for the poor state of services for those suffering from an eating disorder and to take action towards reviewing the services available.