Physical Health Checks and Follow-Up Care in Deprived and Ethnically Diverse People With Severe Mental Illness: Co-Designed Recommendations for Better Care.

Background: There is wide variation in premature mortality rates in adults with severe mental illness (SMI) across London, with Tower Hamlets (a highly deprived and ethnically diverse area) scoring the highest.

Objective: To identify examples of best practice and co-design recommendations for improving physical health checks and follow-up care amongst people with SMI in Tower Hamlets.

Methods: Data were collected through online questionnaires (using SMI physical health best practice checklists), one-on-one interviews (n = 7) and focus groups (n = 3) with general practices, secondary mental health services, commissioners and leads of community services and public health programmes, experts by experience and community, voluntary and social enterprise organisations in Tower Hamlets.

Audit of the care of patients with epilepsy in general practice.

Background: Previous studies have shown that there is great potential for improving the management of patients with epilepsy.

Aim: To identify all patients with epilepsy, to evaluate and audit their care in relation to an annual review, to document seizure frequency and appropriateness of daily therapy to aid compliance and to propose strategies to improve these and other aspects of epileptic care.

Method: An audit of the care of patients with epilepsy was undertaken in two King's Lynn practices with a combined population of 22,500.