Accessibility options |

WLMHT feature in Nursing Times article

02 August 2017

In their August edition, the Nursing Times have featured an article submitted by the Trust’s Nurse Consultant in Physical Healthcare, Linda Nazarko. It focusses on improving the physical health of those with a severe mental illness and highlights how the Trust is working towards achieving this goal.

Research has found that people with severe mental illness die much earlier than others and have worse physical health than the general population. In the piece, Linda writes: “the challenge is to transform the culture in mental health and ensure that staff at all levels combine physical and mental healthcare in a holistic approach – this involves educating staff.”

Many of the improvements being made at the Trust have been written about, including how staff receives training on addressing common physical health needs during their induction, plus additional training offered on recording electrocardiograms, venepuncture and catheterisation.

However, the piece also addresses many of the challenges associated with improving physical health in mental health settings, such as balancing the need for antipsychotics against their potential negative effects on physical health.

Linda was one of the first Nurse Consultants in Physical Healthcare to be appointed to the role.

Read the article in full here:

Improving the physical health of people with severe mental illness