ALMOST a third of children with eating disorders seen by the Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust are waiting too long to begin their treatment, with some having to wait months for care.

Leading mental health charities have warned that a "postcode lottery" is leaving many youngsters struggling to access the care they need, with "patchy" services leading to "significant local and regional variation" in waiting times.

NHS guidance says that children should begin treatment within four weeks of referral, or within one week for urgent cases.

At the Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, only 59 per cent of children and under 19s referred for an eating disorder began their treatment within those timeframes in the 12 months to June, according to the latest NHS England data.

In the case of urgent referrals, 36 per cent of patients waited a week or longer to begin their treatment, and 44 per cent of routine case patients waited four or more weeks.

Some patients were left waiting months for help, with 11 youngsters - two of whom were given an urgent referral - waiting 12 or more weeks.

The figures put the trust well below the national average - across England 81 per cent of patients were seen within the target window - and represent a deterioration on the previous year, when the target was met in 85 per cent of cases.

This drop came despite government efforts to drive down waiting times, with NHS trusts and other healthcare providers given a deadline of 2020 to ensure they are meeting their targets in at least 95 per cent of cases.

But more than a quarter of providers that returned data for the past two years saw a similar drop in performance last year.

Tom Quinn, director of external affairs at eating disorder charity Beat, said it was "difficult to be confident" that the 2020 target will be met.