Ingrid Small, Northern Care Alliance (Salford/Bury/Oldham)
Ingrid Small
Advanced Dietitian supporting acute services with Eating disorders and disordered eating
Northern Care Alliance (Salford/Bury/Oldham)

Ingrid has worked in mental health most of her career. Disordered eating and eating disorders have always part of Ingrid's caseload mainly manged in mental health units, but she has always tried to provided support in acute settings. In last 5 years, Ingrid moved solely to community eating disorders but then the opportunity arose to extend this role in in patient acute settings looking mainly at those diagnosed with an eating disorder but also looking at those with disordered eating - treatment plans are different (she enjoys the challenges of those with mental health). Mental health and physical health should always be dovetailed and Ingrid has been a strong advocate of physical health in mental health units. With her extended experience within mental health units she has been involved in supporting those with GI issues/diabetes/other long term conditions. Ingrid would and advocate for trauma informed training for all professionals involved in patient care. Over the last decade support for eating disorders has improved but there is still a fear of those being admitted with an eating disordered onto acute settings. Ingrid actively encourages the use of the MDT to support this group of patients - the outcomes are very positive. Developing this model supports all involved. As a dietitian Ingrid does review the diet but as a mental health practitioner she looks at the whole picture and support teams with this. Bringing the patient with you on the journey and having all staff support this leads to good outcomes (not just fixing but getting them ready for the next step).