Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 3:13 pm on 1 December 2021.
Thank you for that question, James. I think I've already set out the very significant investment we are putting into eating disorder services to transform those across Wales, with a very strong focus on early intervention. We are investing £3.8 million extra every year, and that has continued since 2017. It has been a really challenging time, because we did see during the pandemic an increase not just in the numbers of people suffering from eating disorders, but also an increase in the acuity of people at the time that they presented for support. That has been really challenging, and that's why our focus is on ensuring that, across the board, we've got that range of services from primary care up, including the eating disorder service provided by the charity Beat, which offers a range of really excellent online and telephone support for people with eating disorders and their families to try and make sure that there is support there across the board.
The issue that you've raised in relation to social media is really challenging, and I think one that we all recognise. I think it's vital, really, that through our whole-school approach we work with young people to make sure that they do understand that what they see on social media is not necessarily something that is going to be achievable for most of us. It's also really important that we, through the work in schools and the other work we're doing through the Nest framework, make sure that there is early help, and also encourage people to seek help. But the challenges with social media are real, they're large and, of course, they go well beyond Wales and include—. You know, I hope that you'll make some of those arguments to the UK Government on the work that they are doing to try and tackle some of the harms because of social media.