IMPACT SNAPSHOT: UCLP-PRIMROSE Cardiovascular Disease Risk Reduction Program

UCLP-PRIMROSE: We co-developed an integrated care pathway to address the 15-20 year mortality gap for people with severe mental illness, including package of manuals and NHS England recommended training.

#Analogue to Digital
#Sickness to Prevention
#Hospital to Community

UCLP-PRIMROSE directly addresses a critical health inequality: people with severe mental illness (SMI) die 15-20 years earlier than the general population, primarily due to preventable cardiovascular disease.

Impacts:

• Integrated evidence-based behaviour change intervention for people with SMI (PRIRMOSE-A) with innovative approach to CVD risk reduction (UCLPartners Proactive Care Frameworks).
• Created a integrated care pathway with updated accompanying materials – including implementation guide to facilitate local adaptation around capacity and resource, and collaboration across primary, secondary, and voluntary sectors.
• Training resources recommended in NHS England’s national guidance on improving physical healthcare for people with SMI and available via the NHS Learning Hub.
• Mapped implementation in 24 GP practices with connected teams across three boroughs of London and Bradford.
• Identified implementation barriers, facilitators, and processes which informed the development of refined implementation guidance. This was a focused practical stepped approach.
• Demonstrated effective cross-ARC collaboration between East Midlands (funders), North Thames, and Yorkshire & Humber.

The project exemplifies how ARC infrastructure enables complex intervention implementation across different healthcare settings. Without NIHR funding, this cross-site coordination, iterative data collection, and knowledge mobilisation would not have been possible. The initiative’s next phase aims to explore sustainability of delivery and potential spread to additional practices and localities. This research demonstrates quantifiable impact on both service delivery and policy development for a significantly underserved population.