The Royal College of General Practitioners and the British Medical Association have said that GPs are not getting the right support to treat eating disorders.

The call for doctors to be given more time with patients and more specialist units follows a survey conducted on GP experiences by the charity Beat. More than 92 per cent thought their GP needed more training with eating disorders.

Beat Eating Disorders asked nearly 1,700 people about their experience of trying to get a diagnosis from their GP. Out of those questioned, 69 per cent also said they felt their GP didn't know how to help them.

As part of a three-year training plan to become a GP, doctors have to complete training in mental health, which includes eating disorders. This is in addition to what's taught at medical school and the two years of post-graduate foundation training.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "Eating disorders can be devastating for people living with them, and we want to ensure that everyone has access to the right support. We are working with partners - including Health Education England - to improve training for GPs, and with the General Medical Council to ensure newly qualified clinicians understand and know how to respond to eating disorders.

"We have invested £58 million this financial year to expand adult community mental health services, including those for eating disorders. This is on top of the additional £1 billion we are investing in community mental health care for adults with severe mental illness as part of the NHS Long Term Plan."