Available on BBC3 and iPlayer – Tuesday 22 November at 9pm
Schoen Clinic Newbridge granted exclusive access to its hospital, to speak to patients during the making of the BBC3 documentary, to give valuable and rare insight of a young person with an eating disorder. Alongside the documentary makers, Made in Chelsea’s Zara McDermott who fronts the show spent a day at Schoen Clinic Newbridge earlier this year.
The documentary explores the huge rise in eating disorders amongst children and young people. Disordered eating looks different for everyone but may include undereating or overeating, excessive exercise, focusing more on appearance and anxiety around mealtimes, amongst other things.
Between April and October 2021, hospital admissions for children aged 17 and under with eating disorders went up by over 40% and charities are concerned that social media may be compounding the problem. The film takes an in-depth look at the impact of social media, as well as speaking with young people in treatment for an eating disorder, and those in recovery.
Hospital Director, Natalie Maley says “It was clear from the outset that Zara and the documentary makers had a genuine wish to learn and hear directly from the young people most affected by eating disorders and disordered eating. They handled everything very sensitively and we worked closely with our young people and their families to ensure it was appropriate for anyone featured to be included.”
Rachel Matthews, Schoen Clinic UK Director of Mental Health also features in the documentary and noted “The conversations with our young people on the day of filming were very powerful. I could see that Zara was deeply moved by what she heard, especially as some of our young patients confirmed they had been triggered by some of her posts.
I feel that Zara has learned a lot from the making of this documentary, and we were glad to play our part in helping her on her journey of discovery and seeing things from the patient perspective.”
We would like to like to thank our young people, their families and our colleagues at Schoen Clinic Newbridge for taking part in this documentary. We would also like to thank Zara, Ellie the Director and the film crew for dealing with our patients so caringly during filming.
About Schoen Clinic UK
Part of a leading international hospital group employing 11,300 colleagues treating 300,000 patients every year and the LaingBuisson hospital group of the year 2020.
Schoen Clinic entered the UK healthcare market in 2018 providing award-winning, expert-led private healthcare in the specialty areas of mental health, eating disorders and orthopaedic and spine surgery. Its accolades include The LaingBuisson Private Hospital Group of the Year 2020.
For more information, please visit the website schoen-clinic.co.uk.
