Attached to this issue of the newsletter is an application form for the next meeting - Thursday 7th October - entitled "Use of Technology in the Treatment of Eating Disorders". Jane Knox, senior dietician with Grampian NHS, has kindly agreed to organise the day, which will begin as usual with coffee and registration 10.00 - 10.30am.

NB Those who are due membership fees (an oversight I'm sure!) will receive a separate reminder included with their newsletter.

Many thanks,

Heather Marrison
Secretary

SEDIG Business News

New Services
Dr Calum Munro, Staff Grade psychiatrist, Edinburgh, reported on the Anorexia Nervosa Intensive Treatment Team (ANITT). ANITT is a 2-year pilot project set up to provide a community based outpatient service aimed at severely low-weight sufferers of Anorexia Nervosa. The team will provide 3 distinct services:

• An intensive community treatment program for low weight patients
• A liaison and post-discharge service for any inpatients with Anorexia Nervosa, whether from NHS medical or psychiatric beds, or a private eating disorders unit.
• A Primary Care Liaison Service.

ANITT aim’s to offer a community treatment program for up to 10 patients at a time. Calum emphasised that this relatively low capacity service will operate within Lothian, but may eventually extend to other areas should the pilot prove effective. Referrals, will be considered from any source, providing they meet ANITT criteria - which, broadly speaking, is the more severe end of the spectrum. Please contact 0131 537 6783 for further information.

SEDIG’s View: Members generally agreed that ANITT could be a way of offering extra liaison support to families and sufferers, as well as providing backup for therapists who feel their severely low-weight patients, or post discharge patients, require further input.

David Tait

The Parry-Jones Service (details at foot of page) is currently offering therapeutic intervention for adolescents living in Glasgow and surrounding areas. Unfortunately, the team has been forced to incur a reduction in working hours due to funding cuts. Staff are in the process of re-examining the service with the aim of remodelling.

Alison Geddes

SEDIG’s View: Members feel that eating disorders services are largely undervalued, and would like to take a pro-active stance in bringing about positive change.

Pro-active SEDIG!
Grainne Smith, carer and chief organiser of the SEDIG/NEEDS petition, has received a letter from Malcolm Chisholm acknowledging that SEDIG has an important part to play in raising the profile of Scottish Eating Disorders Services. SEDIG members agree that the more letters / voices heard, the better. Former chair, Maggie Gray, encouraged Parry-Jones staff to draft a letter highlighting their reduced funding so that SEDIG members may sign it. Maggie believes "Eating Disorders issues ought to be placed in the "in-tray" of all Medical Directors in Scotland".

N.I.C.E. Guidelines, should these be adopted in Scotland?
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) debate highlighted SEDIG’s potential to wield substantial influence regarding this issue - mainly due to our broad membership base. If members were willing to endorse NICE guidelines, it would undoubtedly add weight to the argument for official implementation. The guidelines are generally welcomed in Scotland - although supporting evidence appears weak in parts, underlying principles are commendable - so why not push for this to happen? For NICE information visit: www.nice.org.uk

Carer’s Conference, Glasgow 10th March 2004. Mark Reilly, EDA representative, informed SEDIG that this was a successful day. He acknowledged SEDIG’s support and is delighted that several self-help volunteers came forward as a result of the meeting. Mark is keen not to step on SEDIG’s toes and aims to work alongside the professional sector to offer something that carers and sufferers value.

Glasgow Eating Disorders Professional Network
Dear All,

I'm writing to let you know that we have just held our first meeting of the Glasgow & West of Scotland Eating Disorders Network. We had over 30 health care professionals attending - not bad for a Friday afternoon! There were psychiatrists, psychologists, physiotherapists, dieticians, nurse therapists, school nurses and counsellors.

Part of the afternoon was devoted to an Exercise Workshop - an extension of Zara Lipsey's workshop for SEDIG. We really enjoyed developing this project further and generally see the Network as a sort of unmanaged (perhaps unmanageable) clinical network, designed to maximise the effectiveness of whatever limited or isolated resources exist - many attendees told of their professional isolation.

We wouldn't want to supplant SEDIG or the EDA, - these are both places where professionals, carers and sufferers from all over the country meet together. Our Network exists to address more local service needs, and to provide a degree of professional confidentiality so that particular clinical cases can be discussed.

We have adopted a 'Manifesto', which I could make available to anyone who is interested, and have agreed to meet quarterly. One function of the Network is to allow compilation of a detailed professional register of resources in our area.

Please spread the news to anyone in the west of Scotland who might wish to join us (and of course to anyone who would like to comment or offer advice).

Jane Morris
The Parry-Jones Service
Adolescent Module, Gartnavel Royal Hospital, 1055 Great Western Road, Glasgow G12
Tel: 0141 211 3589

Volunteers Needed!
The Self-Help Network (SHN) is a UK wide service provided by volunteers who receive training and support from the EDA.

Our volunteers facilitate support groups or offer postal, e-mail or telephone support to sufferers and carers affected by eating disorders.

Last year the SHN contacts helped over 7,000 people in the UK. To find out more please contact:

Rachel Hogg, Eating Disorders Association
0870 770 3256 ext 236, or email. Visit SHN website

Reflection on SEDIG Conference March 11th 2004
As I entered the ballroom at Perth Murray Royal, I was immediately struck by how well attended the meeting was, the comprehensive programme organised by Dr Helen Anderson had clearly appealed to a wide range of membership and I looked forward to a very informative day.

The morning session comprised of 2 presentations with the shared theme of exercise and Eating Disorders. The differing backgrounds of both speakers provided an interesting contrast.

The first speaker, Margaret Foggo, dietitian at the Priory and, an accredited sports dietitian for Commonwealth Games Athletes, introduced us to the dietary aspects of over-exercise and problems associated with over-activity and eating disorders. The presentation drew our attention to the benefits of appropriate exercise with clear health promotion goals including weight control, promotion of healthy bones and risk reduction regarding heart disease and strokes. It was encouraging to note that the National coach foundation, Sport Scotland and the Institute of Sport all recognise risk factors potentially leading to athletes developing an eating disorder, and that this increased awareness may help to identify and treat those athletes at risk.

Margaret has applied her knowledge of sports nutrition to provide appropriate dietary guidelines at the Priory, supporting patients to work towards healthy/ appropriate levels of exercise whilst addressing the need to increase dietary carbohydrate.

The second presentation by Sara Lipsey, clinical psychologist with the Parry Jones day programme in Glasgow, enlightened us with an overview on her current research, looking at dysfunctional beliefs in female exercisers. The relationship of BMI/exercise behaviour and Eating Disorder psychopathology in females who regularly exercise is complex and we look forward to the publication of this research.

We then separated into small groups and discussed how to manage exercise along with weight restoration. Exercise is clearly beneficial but has to be carefully tailored to the physical health and nutritional status of individual patients.

After lunch, a short business meeting was followed by the final presentation of the day. Dr Andy Gallagher, consultant endocrinologist from Glasgow, gave an overview of bone mass density. What may have been a very technical and complex presentation proved to be extremely informative and interesting, set at the right level for those of us with non-medical backgrounds. By the end of this excellent presentation I am sure we all felt more able to understand T—scores and have some confidence in interpreting bone density scans, clearly distinguishing between normal bone health, osteopenia and osteoporosis.

After coffee an interesting and informative discussion continued, and finally the day came to a close, at which point Dr Gallagher left to attend a very important football match taking place that evening in Glasgow!

Jean Corr

Future Themes and Dates