SEVERAL children received urgent treatment for eating disorders in Hampshire in the last year.

None of the urgent referrals were seen within a week, the amount of time recommended by guidance.

New NHS England figures show that five children were given urgent treatment at Southern Health in the year to June.

This is an increase from two over the same period two years earlier.

Guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) says that 95 per cent of urgent referrals should be treated within one week.

But at the trust, just two of the five (40 per cent) were seen within a week.

In the 12 months to June 2020, none of the two urgent referrals were seen within one week.

The guidance also says that 95 per cent of routine cases should be treated within four weeks of a referral, but just 69 per cent were seen at Southern Health in this timeframe in the year to June.

The director of external affairs at anti-eating disorder charity Beat, Tom Quinn, said the rise in waiting times is "very concerning".

He said children have been more anxious during the pandemic, and some are reaching out for help with eating disorders for the first time.

"NHS services are not getting the funding or staffing that they need," he added.

Nationally, the number of children with an urgent referral seen within one week has also fallen.

It dropped from 88 per cent in the year to June 2020, to 68 per cent last year.

In the same period, the number of children waiting for urgent treatment across England has increased from 56 to 230.

The Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust is based in Calmore, Southampton, and provides community and mental health and learning disability services across the county.

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