The Prime Minister has praised Richard Quigley, MP for Isle of Wight West, as a ‘powerful advocate for change’ during today’s Prime Minister’s Questions, following his intervention in the urgent case of a teenage anorexia patient placed on end-of-life care.
Mr Quigley used the high-profile session in the House of Commons to raise concerns over the case of a young woman, who is currently under the care of an NHS trust in the north of England.
He highlighted that the Trust had obtained a Court of Protection ruling to withdraw treatment, placing the woman on an end-of-life care pathway – a move he said contradicts national medical guidance.
Quoting official policy, Mr Quigley told the Prime Minister that the decision goes against NICE guidelines and the Minister for Care’s own public statement in September, which confirmed that anorexia is not considered a terminal illness.
In response, Prime Minister Keir Starmer commended Mr Quigley’s advocacy, confirming that he would ask Ministers in the Department of Health and Social Care to urgently review the woman’s case and ensure that “everyone with eating disorders gets the help and support they need”.
Mr Quigley’s question follows his continued work with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Eating Disorders and a Westminster Hall debate in September, where he called for stronger protections and earlier intervention to prevent deaths from eating disorders.
During that earlier debate, the Minister for Care, Stephen Kinnock MP, said:
“Reports of people with eating disorders being offered end-of-life care are deeply troubling. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has been crystal clear that eating disorders are not terminal illnesses. It has updated its guidance to re-emphasise that important point, so that no person, nor their loved ones, should ever feel that treatment has reached a point of no return.”
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Mr Quigley is continuing to press for urgent action on the case.
Suggesting that fish and chips are prescribed on NHS for eating disorders no doubt.
He is only doing it to please Starmer. No idea himself just a wasted space
Since when has his constituency been in the north of england