Medina Rahman, a Physical Health Connector in the East Neighbourhood Mental Health team has been at Small Heath Health Centre since February and is already making a huge difference to both her colleagues and service users.
Medina’s role is part of a new pilot delivered by The Active Wellbeing Society in collaboration with the Trust’s Transformation Programme, with the aim to support patients with a severe mental illness attend their annual physical health checks.
Having identified that Oakwood GP Surgery had been struggling to engage with some of its mental health patients, Medina demonstrated huge compassion when trying to understand the issues that they were facing. She also worked to improve the health of their patients by encouraging them to attend their annual physical health check appointments. This in turn helped the surgery to reach its targets.
Medina’s work has been recognised by the GP partner, Dr Al-Qazi, and other staff who have all personally thanked her for her efforts.
Medina said:
By giving patients the space to talk about what matters to them and actively listening to their concerns, they are more likely to engage with our care plan which leads to better health outcomes.”
Medina’s success in Oakwood practice is a great example of how partnership working can meaningfully influence a patient’s experience and health outcomes, and how relationship-building is key to improving the quality of service received.
If you are aged 18 or over and you have been diagnosed with a severe mental illness (SMI), you will be invited to a physical health check every year at your GP surgery. Visit our Annual Physical Health Check webpage for more details on what happens at your annual health check and why they are so important.
Published: 30 April 2024
