NHS Confederation responds to the new Centre for Mental Health report

Responding to the new analysis from the Centre for Mental Health on improving the physical health of people with severe mental illness, Sean Duggan, chief executive of the NHS Confederation’s mental health network said:

"The fact that people with serious mental illness die on average 15 to 20 years younger than the general population is completely unacceptable, especially, as the report points out, the drivers of this disparity are largely preventable physical health conditions.

"But health leaders will welcome the report’s finding that specific outreach funding has increased uptake of these physical health checks and Covid vaccine uptake for people with severe mental illnesses.

"The voluntary, community and social enterprise sector are often best placed to support underserved groups to access support, and GP practices may not always be the most appropriate environment to have physical health checks. It is therefore vital that mental health providers communicate and work more closely with primary care and voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations to reduce these health inequalities and focus on prevention."