Summary
Longer Lives is a strategic delivery plan to improve physical health for people with Severe Mental Illness (SMI). UCLPartners were commissioned to develop the plan on behalf of a local Integrated Care System (ICS). The recommendations are based on the service user journey and experience, rather than system needs, and form an integrated, cross-sector programme of work, put forward as a vanguard for the new ICS way of working, adopted by physical and mental health teams and local authorities.
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We need everybody with Severe Mental Illness to be offered integrated care that prevents and treats key risk factors. With commitment across the ICS we can reduce early deaths and empower people to live longer and better quality lives.
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Professor David Osborn, Hon Consultant Psychiatrist, Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust
What the project involved
The new ‘Longer Lives’ plan focusses on people with SMI receiving the best evidence-based care for risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, weight gain, diabetes and high cholesterol.
North Central London has the highest prevalence of SMI among Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) in England – men with SMI are dying over 18 years earlier than the general population, and women over 14 years earlier; and largely from preventable conditions.
The new five-year approach puts patient experience at the centre of plans to improve services and has been extensively co-produced with those who have lived experience of SMI. The approach to care will work across organisational boundaries to provide a combination of holistic support and targeted interventions.
The plan was co-developed through an iterative engagement process involving workshops, expert reference groups, one-on-one interviews, a survey, and written input. The plan brings together stakeholders from Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) groups, mental health services, primary care, acute care, and third sector services. Insights from people with lived experience were generated in multiple ways to make contributing to Longer Lives as easy as possible.
Outcomes
The adoption of the strategic delivery plan is in its first year in North Central London, but it has met the initial goals of creating a plan that meets the needs of those it is designed for through thorough co-production with people living with severe mental illness. We anticipate clinical impact in terms of reduced mortality rates from preventable causes in this population over the coming years. Short term, we will see better experiences reported in healthcare interactions and greater trust.
Next steps
The Longer Lives plan will be rolled out in each of NCL’s five boroughs – Barnet, Enfield, Haringey, Camden and Islington.
