Eating disorders

What is it?

Private hospitals provide access to specialist care for eating disorders, often with less of a wait time than public hospitals.

Private hospitals may provide eating disorder care through inpatient or outpatient services.

What can someone expect?

Private hospitals can provide intensive treatment and are often suited to the start of a person’s recovery.

• Inpatient services: You’re admitted into the hospital for dedicated eating disorder treatment under the care of a treating doctor.
• Outpatient services: You visit the hospital to attend appointments or other programs that don’t involve staying in the hospital overnight, known as ‘day programs’.

Care in a private hospital will often be provided by a multidisciplinary team (MDT) and includes medical, social and psychological support. You can access an MDT to avoid attending multiple appointments with various health professionals.

Private hospital programs are often shorter in duration compared to ongoing sessions with health professionals in another setting.

Both inpatient and day programs generally require full-time participation, so you can’t work during treatment.

You may need to attend a specific assessment appointment before you can be referred into the day program by your usual GP or treating psychiatrist.

Private hospital treatment will be billed directly to the individual in most cases. If you have private health insurance, this may cover part or all of the cost of your treatment. If Medicare covers any of the treatment, it’s likely you’ll still have an ‘out of pocket’ cost to pay.

Seeking care at a private hospital may mean a shorter wait time to access services than at a public hospital. However, most day programs will still have a waiting period as only a few people at a time can access the program.

There are several private hospitals in South-East Queensland that offer dedicated eating disorder inpatient programs that may require travelling some distance, including New Farm Clinic, Robina Private Hospital and The Wesley Hospital Brisbane.

Who is this for?

Inpatient or outpatient care through a private hospital can be suitable if you wish to access dedicated treatment with less of a waiting time, and if you have the financial capacity to pay for the cost of all or part of your treatment.

How can someone access it?

You will require a referral from a doctor (e.g. your GP or psychiatrist) to access a private hospital service.

You can find information on the referral and admission processes for inpatient services delivered by the following private hospitals or providers working in private hospitals below:

• Ramsay Clinic New Farm—inpatient and day programs
• Robina Private Hospital Eating Disorder Service—inpatient programs and day programs
• Queensland Physician Care (QPC)—a private general medicine specialist practice providing medical care for eating disorder patients both as inpatient services and private clinics at the Wesley Hospital Brisbane.