Response to British Journal of Psychiatry’s physical disorders and mental health report

Simon Lawton Smith, Head of Policy, responds to the British Journal of Psychiatry’s Differences in the prescribing of medication for physical disorders in individuals with v. without mental illness report:

“We’ve known for a long time that people with severe mental illness are not receiving the required level of treatment for their physical health. Unfortunately mental health and physical health continue to be seen by many clinicians as two separate entities, which can lead to discrimination in service provision.

We urgently need an integrated approach to the overall care of people with mental illness, to provide a holistic response that helps people recover as quickly as possible.

We have welcomed the Government’s key objective to improve the physical health care of people with mental illness. But it’s not going to happen unless commissioners and clinicians fully buy into integrated health systems.”