Eating disorders are serious mental health conditions associated with significant morbidity and mortality. High levels of demand on services have led to increases in wait times to access support. A quality improvement (QI) framework was used in June 2022 to tackle the issues with capacity and flow with an aim to reduce wait times for routine referral from 17 weeks to 2 weeks in 12 months. Improvements were made and sustained, including reduction of routine referral wait time from 17 weeks to 2 weeks in 12 months. Additionally, internal wait lists reduced from 73 patients on the psychiatry list to 0 in 3 months and from 50 families waiting for therapy to 0 in 7 months. A striking £130 233.21 annual savings in agency staff expenditure was achieved by January 2023.
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