Shellharbour MP Anna Watson has called on the NSW government to consider a centre for eating disorders in the Illawarra.
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Ms Watson said she was moved by the experience of 15-year-old Chloe Swinfield, who went public about her three-year battle with anorexia to raise awareness about the loneliness she feels.
Chloe, a patient at Westmead Hospital, often feels isolated from her support network and in her darkest hours wants to give up.
Her desperate mum, Jan Whitton, is struggling financially and with no car the trips to Sydney are taking their toll.
Ms Watson urged NSW Minister for Mental Health Kevin Humphries to consider Chloe's plight and improve services in the Illawarra.
"I would appreciate your consideration of ... whether it is possible to establish appropriate treatment services for anorexia and other eating disorders in the Illawarra, including the establishment of a centre for eating disorders within the region," Ms Watson said in a letter to the minister this week.
Ms Whitton said she was frustrated her daughter was not treated as "someone with a real disease".
"There is not one single bed for this disease in the entire Illawarra, for children or adults," Ms Whitton said.
"To get a bed at Westmead the children must be very ill and the criteria for getting one of the two adult beds in NSW is to be in heart failure."
Ms Watson agreed waiting times for the two specialised adult treatment beds were "quite extensive".
She asked the minister to consider the calls from Fed Up NSW Health, a group of young people with eating disorders campaigning for better services.
The group is demanding an inquiry into eating disorder treatment services, outcomes and related deaths in NSW.
It calls for the "immediate re-instatement of the original four beds at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital".
Sufferers demand statewide eating disorders outpatients services at RPA be open a minimum of three days a week.
And they want more accurate recording of patients admitted to medical wards, emergency departments and psychiatric wards.
A Ministry for Health spokeswoman said the Shellharbour Adolescent Psychological Service provided specialist eating disorder treatment and support to patients and their families.
"Additionally, a six-bed adolescent inpatient unit also admits young people from 12 to 18 with eating disorders," she said.
"All services are fully operational with minimal vacancies at this time."
Mr Humphries said specialised treatment centres for severe eating disorders could not be made available in every community.
"There is no easy answer unfortunately, as treatment given to people with a severe eating disorder is highly specialised and complex and requires a level of expertise that is not possible to replicate in every community."
The minister said he was "committed to ensuring people suffering eating disorders have access to the most appropriate support and treatment, with local treatment options wherever possible".