LESS than a quarter of people with severe mental illness in Dorset receive physical health checks that could prevent early death.

With just over a third across England receiving full examinations last year, charity Rethink Mental Illness said it is "unacceptable" that the country is so far behind the NHS’s 60 per cent target.

NHS England data shows that 7,820 people had severe mental illness in the NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) area in 2019-20.

But only 1,861 received a full physical check-up – 24 per cent of those covered by the CCG.

Physical health examinations include checks for alcohol consumption, blood glucose, cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass index and smoking status.

The most common check performed in Dorset was for blood pressure, with 5,951 patients having results recorded.

A patient is recorded as receiving a full examination when they have undergone all six tests.

Danielle Hamm, associate director of campaigns and policy at Rethink Mental Illness, said more of the potentially life-saving appointments need to be carried out nationally.

"People living with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder die on average 15 to 20 years earlier than the general population, largely due to preventable physical health conditions such as heart disease or type 2 diabetes," she said.

"Physical health checks are therefore an important intervention to help reduce this inequality, by helping doctors to identify potential risks to physical health and provide subsequent care and treatment.

"It is unacceptable that we are still so far from the target set.”

A spokesperson for the Dorset CCG said: “Dorset CCG recognise the importance of closing the average of 15 to 20 year mortality gap for those with a severe mental illness when compared to the general population.

“Physical health testing for this cohort of the population is a key element in the efforts to address this gap with individuals more likely to be at risk of obesity, diabetes and hypertension.

“Partners across the Dorset Integrated Care System including Dorset CCG, Dorset HealthCare and Primary Care have developed a programme to improve the current completion rate.

“Locally the rate of completion has been steadily increasing over the last year and the system is committed to achieving the 60 per cent ambition.

“Additional new investment has been agreed to support this with work focusing on ensuring all individuals within the cohort receive each of the six elements of test.

An NHS spokesman added: “The NHS is investing almost £1bn to improve community mental health services, which includes improving physical health care so that 390,000 patients with severe mental illness will receive a check by 2023-24.

"Our message to anyone experiencing poor mental health is: the NHS is here for you, please help us help you, and come forward for the care you need.”