Developing and Adult ARFID service: Part II

Following on from her August post, Jane Taylor, Team Manager & Accredited Interpersonal Therapist & Supervisor at the Bolton Eating Disorder Service, shares her experience of setting up an adult service.

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"Firstly apologies for the delay…the ARFID developments started to snowball at a significant rate, meaning I have had to prioritise tasks.

In my last blog you will recall about the gentleman I was extremely concerned about, and lack of services available to meet his ARFID needs. Coincidently the Eating Disorder Service had been made aware of an inpatient that was also requiring specialist ARFID input which indicated an unmet need and subsequently needed some resolve.

The CCG were now involved and understandably keen to find a solution. Having worked with the CCG as a provider (for several years) we had established a strong working relationship. A conversation took place and they were extremely keen for us to lead on this…. “Great” I thought.

They asked what resources I would need in terms of funding/costs. This is were it got tricky and required me to try and balance “the books” so to speak. Remember, I had hardly heard of ARFID, let alone draft a team of professionals together along with a forecast of figures, and to add to the pressure, was a timeframe. It was coming to the end of the financial year, with only 48 hours to go. We needed to secure funding for this new service for the next 12 months.

Pressure was on… people were getting ready for their easter break I was frantically trying to find out what professions I would need to be able to honour the CCG request, given this was going to be the first adult ARFID service in the UK. The CCG asked us to tell them what we needed…. I had no idea…Help!

At this point our Senior Operations Management was getting involved about potential costings and resources with the same question “what do you need to get this up and running”. Time was ticking, and the day was coming to an end. “What have I got myself into?” I asked myself… too late. I had pledged a commitment and I was thinking about the gentleman that I had assessed recently and needed this service, albeit a conversation at this point. I prayed that ARFID Awareness UK would write me back. It would need to be a busy 48 hours.

… to be continued.