ABSTRACT
The number of specialist centres is increasing but this spread is still patchy. The services that you might hope for from such centres would include:
an assessment service;
an in-patient treatment unit with a long-term follow-up programme for patients who remain within the treatment agreement;
an out-patient treatment service; this includes individual and family psychotherapy with dietetic support. In the recent past we have run an out-patient treatment group package; this requires caution and careful selection of patients, and constant attention to the risk of competitive weight loss. Group treatment should be offered to parents concurrent with the patient group.
a liaison and telephone advice service;
a peripatetic service capable of providing advice locally, e.g. a one-off assessment and guidance about treatment if the patient is acutely ill but no beds are available centrally.
