Greater Manchester Health Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust is launching a new service that will provide ‘rapid support’ to young adults with eating disorders.
The First Episode Rapid Early Intervention for Eating Disorders (FREED) service is ‘an evidence-based early intervention model’ for eating disorders that is specifically tailored to the needs of young adults aged between 18-25.
It will provide a swift response and support to those suffering eating disorders including anorexia, bulimia and binge-eating.
Part of a nationwide rollout that encompasses 18 new sites across the country, FREED has been commissioned by NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and is also supported by Health Innovation Manchester.
Salford is the first place to launch FREED in Greater Manchester and this expanded service will target young people who have been living with a condition for fewer than three years.
Potential users that come forward and who would benefit from treatment will be contacted within 48 hours, with treatment beginning as quickly as two weeks later.
FREED was originally developed six years ago by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, to provide ‘rapid access to high-quality care’ for those in the early stages of illness when treatment is ‘most likely to be effective’.
