PHSMI training film

This project has been funded by NHS Health Education England.  NHS Health Education England logo

RCN Endorsed logo

 

We are proud to announce that this online training was endorsed by the Royal College of Nursing.

How to improve the physical health of people with severe mental illness

Free online training for primary care professionals

People with severe mental illness are likely to die up to 25 years earlier than the general population. Research shows that 75% of these cases are caused from preventable physical illnesses. As a primary care professional, you can help reduce these unnecessary deaths.

The purpose of the health check is to improve health and reduce mortality. For this to be achieved, most people will need follow up support to change unhealthy behaviour. Practical modifications to the way appointments are organised may also need to be made to ensure they are not disadvantaged compared with the general population in accessing healthcare.

This film has been adapted from training that is endorsed by the Royal College of Nursing. You can download an accompanying handout which has some reflective questions – these are useful for revalidation.

This project has been developed by NHS England and NHS Improvement – South East and
Health Education England, in partnership with the Charlie Waller Trust.

Frequently asked questions

People with severe mental illness are likely to die up to 25 years earlier than the general population. Research shows that 75% of these cases are caused from preventable physical illnesses.

Many people with severe mental illness are not under the care of specialist mental health services. As a primary care professional, you can help reduce these unnecessary deaths.

  • Factual information about the main types of severe mental illness
  • Practical advice on how to talk and respond to people with severe mental illness
  • How to encourage people with severe mental illness to attend appointments
  • How to do physical health checks and medication reviews
  • How to offer a care plan and ongoing support

You can just watch it straight through on your own or with colleagues.

If you prefer, you can use it for training a group of staff – there are handouts and notes for facilitators which are free to download.

If you would like any advice about how to facilitate sessions, please contact sheila.hardy@charliewaller.org

The film was produced by NHS England and NHS Improvement South East and the Charlie Waller Trust. It was adapted from training endorsed by the Royal College of Nursing and delivered by Sheila Hardy, Charlie Waller’s nursing lead.

“I feel more confident in delivering health checks in my practice.” – Practice nurse

“Extremely useful for my practice. Made me think about different ways of approaching problems and improving patient care.” – Nurse practitioner

“Excellent – upskilling much needed.” – Mental health nurse 

Some important notes

  • Nurse involvement: Dr Sheila Hardy, author of this training, is a dual qualified nurse, both RGN and RMN
  • Service user experience: Dr Sheila Hardy, author of this training, has been involved in research with service users and has many years of practice delivering health checks
  • There is no conflict of interest in the delivery of this training
  • Copyright ownership is shared jointly between Charlie Waller Trust and NHS England and NHS Improvement South East
  • UK-wide relevance: This resource was developed by Charlie Waller Trust and NHS Improvement and NHS England South East, but we fully intend it to be of relevance to the whole of England as well as to the other UK devolved nations
  • Correction: Please note that due to a technical error there is some text: ‘Why are injections prescribed instead of tablets?’ on the screen ‘Monitoring lithium’ at 27 minutes which should not be there.
  • This training is due for review in 2024

Please feel free to share this online training to your colleagues. Below are two downloadable PDFs that will help promote this to your colleagues:

Download the handouts by clicking on the images below:
training handout
facilitator notes
Download an article featuring the training in Practice Nurse journal below:
Practice Nurse front cover