Eating Disorder Service (BEDS)

Some disorders may be linked to a mental or physical health condition you have, or a traumatic experience in your life such as stress at work, a loss in your family or pressure from work.

If you have an eating disorder you may see many different symptoms, such as:

• Skipping meals or avoiding eating in front of others
• Setting rigid rules about eating, and sticking to them without change
• Thinking irrational and negative thoughts about eating, such as believing you’ll feel happier if you’re thin
• Binging and comfort eating as a way to escape stress and negative emotions
• Making yourself vomit before and after meals
• Chewing food but spitting it out before swallowing
• Having an intense fear of gaining weight, and spending a lot of time inspecting yourself in the mirror

You can find more information about the signs of an eating disorder from the NHS website.

Visit NHS website for more information about eating disorder symptoms (opens new browser tab)

There are four broad types of eating disorders, which we can offer support for. Read our following guides to find out more:

• Read the Anorexia Nervosa leaflet (pdf) - trying to keep weight low, by not eating enough food or exercising too much, or both
• Read the Binge Eating leaflet (pdf) - eating large amounts of food in a short space of time and feeling out of control
• Read the Bulimia Nervosa leaflet (pdf) - eating large amounts of food in a short space of time and then trying to get rid of this quickly by vomiting, taking laxatives, misusing diet pills. or excessive exercise
• Read the Otherwise Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED) leaflet (pdf) - may be diagnosed if you show a combination of different disorder symptoms

If you’re living with an eating disorder, we can help you better understand your relationship with food and why you’re making certain decisions about eating.

When you’re referred to us we’ll arrange an assessment appointment with you. We’ll talk with you about your experiences and why you think your eating habits have changed.

Depending on your needs, we may offer a range of treatment options to support you, such as:

• Therapy sessions, either one to one with our specialists, or group sessions including your family and carers
• Dietetic sessions to assess your nutritional needs  
• Access to our Support Hope and Recovery Online Network (SHaRON)

SHaRON

SHaRON provides a safe and secure digital environment where service users, clinicians, ex-service users, volunteers and other professionals can communicate.

Visit SHaRON support for Eating Disorders website (opens new browser tab)

Day Programme

Our Day Programme service is for people who don’t need 24-hour in-patient admission into hospital, but would still benefit from immediate support.

The aim is to help you become more independent and to guide you in the changes you can make to help your recovery.

The programme is offered in 12-week blocks, from Monday to Thursdays at 8.45 am to 2.00 pm.

It includes a range of therapeutic groups, such as Nutrition, Goal Setting, Yoga and Self Esteem, as well as structured staff-supported mealtimes.

The type of treatment, and the number of session we offer will depend on your needs. During your initial assessment, we will talk with you about the different options we feel may help. Some examples of support we may offer include:

• Restoring a healthy weight range
• Encouraging a healthy eating pattern
• Reducing compensatory behaviours
• Addressing underlying psychological issues 

We don’t accept self referrals, needs to be from a GP or a member of the BEDS team.

You need to be aged 18 or over and be registered with a GP in the Berkshire area to access our service.

Your GP or healthcare professional can refer you to us.

Unfortunately, we don’t accept self referrals. You can still however read our self-help resources for advice on things like meal planning and understanding calories.

Children, Young People, and Families (CYPF) service

If you're 17 or younger, or you're a parent or guardian concerned about a young person, you can find support from our CYPF Eating Disorder service.

Visit CYPF Berkshire Eating Disorder service webpage (opens new browser tab)

Our service is provided in our two main hubs in Maidenhead and Reading.

Please do not come to our clinics until your GP has confirmed your appointment with us. 

Maidenhead

St. Mark's Hospital
Maidenhead
Berkshire 
SL6 6DU

Call 0118 904 3011

Reading

Erlegh House, University of Reading
Whiteknights Road
RG6 6BZ

Call 0118 904 3011

Crisis Response Team

If you're concerned for your safety or the safety of others, contact our Crisis Response Team.

Call 0300 365 9999

Call 0300 365 2000 (Press option 4) (Call charged at your local rate)

Email gateway@berkshire.nhs.uk

Alternatively, you can call NHS 111 for free.

Call 111 (free)

Visit NHS111 website (opens new browser tab)

Community Mental Health Teams (CMHT)

You can also contact our CMHT service

Call our Bracknell team 01344 823 333 

Call our Newbury team 01635 292 020 

Call our Reading team 01189 605 612 

Call our Slough team 01753 690 950 

Call our Wokingham team 0118 9890 707

Call our Windsor, Ascot & Maidenhead (WAM) team 01628 640 200

If you're 17 or younger, or you're a parent or guardian concerned about a young person, you can find support from our CFAA Eating Disorder service.

Visit our CFAA BEDS service page (opens new browser tab)

Our Neurodiversity Passport can help you communicate your needs to our staff. It covers sensory processing, your communication preferences, and topics that might make you feel anxious and overwhelmed, so that we can support you.   

Read about our neurodiversity passport

Eating disorders can affect different parts of your day to day life.

The leaflets and resources mentioned here are from other charities and support groups. They can guide you when making decisions about eating and food preparation. 

Eating habits

The following guides are from the Centre for Clinical Interventions (CCI) website.

• Read Regular Eating leaflet (pdf)– how important regular eating is and managing your eating habits
• Read Counting Calories leaflet (pdf)–the myths of calorie counting, its dangers and how to stop
• Read Normal Healthy Eating leaflet (pdf)– guidance about healthy portion sizes for each food group

Nutrition

The following guides are from the Centre for Clinical Interventions (CCI) website.

• Read Nutrition and Metabolism leaflet (pdf)– what metabolism is, and what happens when our metabolic rate slows down
• Read Fats leaflet (pdf)– what are the different types of fat, and which are good for our diets
• Read Carbohydrates leaflet (pdf)– what carbohydrates are and how much you need in your diet
• Read Gastrointestinal Changes leaflet (pdf)– why these difficulties occur and how these can be treated

Lifestyle

The following guides are from the Centre for Clinical Interventions (CCI) website.

• Read Using laxatives leaflet (pdf)– how to avoid misusing laxatives if you've living with an eating disorder
• Read Vomiting and your health leaflet (pdf)– the effects of vomiting linked to your eating disorder

The following guides are from The Association of UK Dieticians (BDA) website.

• Osteoperosis (Visit the BDA website - opens new browser tab) – advice about nutrition to strengthen your bones
• Menopause (Visit the BDA website - opens new browser tab)  – advice about nutrition if you're going through the menopause
• Fad diets (Visit the BDA website - opens new browser tab) – how to spot bad diet advice and who to speak to for nutrition advice

Our mental health teams and services, including Talking Therapies, are available if you need support. 

Find out how to access mental health support (opens new browser tab)

You can also find resources and guides on our website to help you if you need more advice.  

Resources to help with your mental health wellbeing (opens new browser tab)