Eating disorders in under 18s (FOI)

Request

Please provide statistics and data regarding Eating Disorders presenting in children and young people under 18 years old.

Please advise the occupancy rates of beds on Robin Ward being taken by children with mental health disorders (specifically eating disorders) rather than physical medical issues. 

Please advise how many seek treatment off island.

Response

Annual figures for under 18 year olds being treated for an eating disorder have been published in a previous Freedom of Information response on www.gov.je, with data provided to the end of 2020:

Eating disorder statistics (FOI)

As this information is available elsewhere, Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

Children, Young People, Education and Skills response:

The table below shows the number of young people seen by Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) each year, since 2021. CAMHS would be involved in the care of all those under 18 years old being treated for an eating disorder.

The number of young people treated off-island for an eating disorder annually is fewer than five, and as such, the Department has determined that to disclose the exact number would likely breach the privacy of individuals. Therefore, Article 25 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) 2011 Law has been applied.

Health and Community Services response:

Annual bed occupancy figures for those admitted to Robin Ward from 2015 to 2022 (inclusive), where an eating disorder was documented as the main condition treated, are provided in the table below:

Data Source: Hospital Patient Administration System (TrakCare, Report CDG4G)

Cases meeting the criteria for inclusion have been identified by the diagnosis codes assigned to the episode of care in the Electronic Patient Record. Clinical Coding of a patient’s admission is carried out after discharge from hospital, and any data related to ongoing inpatient activity would not be captured. As such, current year figures are not provided in this response. Data is incomplete for the full time period in question, and consequently, figures may be subject to change as Clinical Coding of admissions continues and completion levels increase.

Articles applied

Article 23 - Information accessible to applicant by other means

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

(2) A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information.

Article 25 - Personal information

(1) Information is absolutely exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018.

(2) Information is absolutely exempt information if –

(a) it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is not the data subject as defined in the Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2018; and

(b) its supply to a member of the public would contravene any of the data protection principles, as defined in that Law.