New young people's eating disorder centre to be developed in York
Private provider, The Retreat, lodges planning application to meet increasing demand for additional specialist hospital places for anorexia patients
Plans have been drawn up for a new treatment centre for young people with eating disorders in York.
The Retreat has submitted planning permission to the City of York Council to build a unit for about 12 patients at its base in Heslington Road.
The move will address a shortage of beds for young patients from the area.
It will treat males and females between the age of 12 to 18 who are suffering from anorexia.
The accommodation will include a day care centre and it will be built on the site of a former student accommodation building.
The planning application states: ““The Royal College of Psychiatrists issued a position statement in August 2013 addressing hospital access, admission and discharge in response to increasing numbers of young people being admitted to adolescent psychiatric units.
“The statement confirms that the reliance on hospital admission has led to an increase in the number of out-of-area admissions being referred and admitted to adolescent inpatient units. The demand for beds increasingly exceeds supply.”
On the new unit, it adds: “The detailed design has been carefully considered to accommodate all of the requirements and the internal layout has been carefully considered.
“We consider the proposal delivers a service which outweighs any harm to the green belt.” The Retreat offers private treatment, taking NHS patients referred by their local clinical commissioning group.
