PATIENTS living with severe mental illness in Bury have received some of the best additional support in the country over the past 12 months, new figures have revealed.

Bury Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has been listed as the second best performing CCG in the country for its provision of physical health checks for people with severe mental illness.

A total of 1,218 patients — 64.7 per cent — with severe mental health problems, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, received a comprehensive physical health check in the 12 months ending March 2019.

On average, patients living with serious mental illness die 20 years earlier than the general population due to preventable physical health problems such as heart disease and respiratory failure.

These annual health checks are therefore vital for patients with severe mental illness, to help identify problems early and provide appropriate care.

Dr Daniel Cooke, a GP at Whittaker Lane Medical Centre and clinical director at Bury CCG with a lead for mental health, said: "We welcome the news that Bury is doing really well in this area and this very much reflects the hard work of our GP practices and close working between our practices and local hospitals.

“When treating patients with serious mental illness, it’s natural to think foremost about their mental health, but this group of patients are also at an increased risk of poor overall physical health and premature death.

“It’s really important to value mental health equally with physical health and offering these comprehensive health checks are one way that we can improve physical health and reduce preventable premature death among people living with severe mental illness.”

The health checks often focus on blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, smoking status and risk of diabetes, to name a few.

This decreased life expectancy may be due to a combination of factors including the side effects of medication, lifestyle and difficulty accessing mainstream health services.

The latest NHS England figures placed Bury CCG as the best performing CCG in Greater Manchester, and the second best in the country, behind NHS City and Hackney CCG in London, who provided the health checks for 71.6 per cent of patients.

Figures showed that Salford CCG attained 58.2 per cent (fifth highest nationally) and nearby Bolton achieved 51.6 per cent (twelfth at national level).

Anyone who is eligible for a health check, but has not received one in the past year, is encouraged to contact their GP practice.