Over 35 years’ experience working in mental health both with in-patients and as a community psychiatric nurse (CPN). This has included working as Assertive Outreach Lead covering 500 square miles of the Yorkshire Dales.
Over the past 12 years I have taken a passionate interest in the physical health of those people who have a SMI. This has included my involvement in a national pilot and more recently in local implementation of a process to make a difference in the way we address and intervene with the physical health of this population.
In Bradford and Airedale we have developed and implemented a template both in Primary and Secondary Care which guides clinicians through a standardised systematic physical health check.
This work is now gathering national interest and compliments the “Lester tool” which is a national recognised tool to support improvement when carrying out physical health monitoring for patients with SMI.
