NHS England has stated that people living with severe mental illness (SMI) face one of the greatest health inequality gaps in England. This population group are at risk of dying on average up to two decades earlier than the general population.

This disparity in health outcomes is partly due to physical health needs being overlooked, both in terms of identification and in receiving appropriate treatment. People are not being offered appropriate or timely screenings despite their higher risk of poor physical health. There is also a low uptake of information, tests and interventions relating to preventable health conditions such as physical activity, smoking, alcohol, obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

Primary care teams are responsible for carrying out annual physical health checks and follow up care for patients with SMI who are not in contact with secondary care services and patients with SMI who are in contact with secondary care mental health teams, but have been so for more than 12 months and / or whose condition has stabilised.

NHS England recommended the use of a data entry template to assist GPs and their teams to perform the annual physical health checks so that they are prompted to do a comprehensive review and can easily record their findings.

Clinicians in Bradford, West Yorkshire, developed such a template in SystmOne and tested it across their locality. NHS England encouraged TPP to make the Bradford template available to all SystmOne users.

The template can be found in SystmOne under Template > System Wide > Other > Mental Health Physical Review. Though developed some years ago, the template may serve as a useful basis for local development and modification.