Fairy Meadow woman Rebekah McAlinden knows first-hand the inadequacies of the Illawarra’s eating disorder support services and how little has changed in six years.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
She has had eight admissions to Sydney hospitals in the last two years and now travels weekly to the city for psychiatric and dietitian appointments.
Ms McAlinden first spoke out three years ago to draw attention to the desperate shortage of services in the region.
She was 19 back then, and considered herself ‘‘fully recovered’’ thanks to the support of her family, her church and health workers in the Shoalhaven.
Only months later though Ms McAlinden relapsed ‘‘quite badly’’ and required hospitalisation to be medically stabilised.
‘‘I had to invest in private health insurance in order for the hospital admission which was extraordinarily difficult for me, as I was a full-time student living out of home and had to fund it for myself entirely,’’ she told the Mercury this week.
By the time I was able to access the services, I needed to be hospitalised.
- Rebekah McAlinden
‘‘In the last two years, I have required eight hospital admissions at two different hospitals in Sydney, because the services in the Illawarra simply were not adequate enough to meet my needs at the time and the waiting list for the Illawarra Eating Disorder Service was far too long,’’ she said.
‘‘By the time I was able to access the services, I needed to be hospitalised.’’
She is now an outpatient yet still needs to travel to Sydney to see her dietitian and psychiatrist weekly.
‘‘That’s extremely costly and difficult for me to afford, given I am still a student and living out of home.’’
Ms McAlinden said it was common knowledge the Illawarra Eating Disorders Service was ‘‘extremely underfunded’’ and waiting lists ‘‘way too long’’.
‘‘Often by the time people are able to access the service, they require a higher level of care than any outpatient program can provide.
‘‘There are no beds available in the Illawarra for individuals with eating disorders, which means they must travel to Sydney or elsewhere to receive adequate care,’’ she said. ‘‘Private health insurance is required for one to receive that care, and this is costly and difficult for many to acquire, given their health status.’’
Shellharbour MP Anna Watson has called on the NSW government to consider a centre for eating disorders in the Illawarra, yet still there are manifestly inadequate services for the 5000 young people who are suffering.
‘‘I won’t stop badgering the state government until eating disorder treatment services are established and available right here in the Illawarra,’’ Ms Watson said this week.
The NSW Service Plan for People with Eating Disorders 2013-2018 highlights clear gaps in services and interventions, with very clear regional differences.
It also identified that the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District was responsible for developing a local services plan for eating disorders within the next two years.
The plan outlines a range of existing services available in the Hunter region. An additional dedicated adult eating disorder day program is planned.
But Ms Watson said no similar program existed in the Illawarra despite recent statistics showing up to 5000 young people between 10 and 24 years of age were trying to cope with eating disorders in this region.
Executive Director Mental Health with the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, Paula Hakesley, said work was continuing on the development of a local plan in line with the NSW Service Plan for People with Eating Disorders 2013-2018. She anticipated it would be finalised by the end of this year.
It includes the establishment of three working groups which are all ‘‘vital to underpinning the creation of a solid local plan aimed at better caring for people living with an eating disorder in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven’’.
