Nurses shortlisted for NHS Parliamentary award

A team of nurses from ²gether NHS Foundation Trust have been announced as regional winners in the Excellence in Healthcare category for the NHS Parliamentary Awards.

The physical health team were nominated by Richard Graham MP for their innovative and proactive work in approaching the issue of people with serious mental illness being 30 per cent more likely to die from cancer than the general population.

Women with a serious mental illness are much less likely to attend for cervical screening with their GP.

The nurses set up Well Woman Wednesday Clinics as a way of providing information and education to any female inpatients on Dean Ward at Wotton Lawn Hospital, Gloucester, who may wish to know more before having a smear test.

They worked with female service users to create a flexible person-centred approach, which enables women to have screening in an NHS environment that is familiar, supportive and comfortable at the time that is right for them.

Angela Willan, of the Well Woman clinic team, said: “People with serious mental illness are 30 per cent more likely to die from cancer than the general population, with one possible reason being the low uptake of screening. Our well woman clinics and cervical screening helped address this inequality and we’re working to expand the support we can provide.”

Since their introduction, the clinics have now expanded to include: weight management; and breast, contraception and cardio-vascular checks. Men’s Health Mondays have also since been introduced.