This stand-alone professional development course aims to develop your understanding of the physical health needs of patients in a mental health setting. It’s ideal if you’re an aspiring advanced clinical practitioner (ACP) working in mental health as the course has a clinical focus and offers the opportunity to develop skills required for this role. Our experienced and knowledgeable team will support you to gain an understanding of the need for robust physical health assessments within your speciality, and the necessary skill set to manage these and the referral process, where appropriate. You’ll explore the perception of people with mental health and learning disability needs and how you can improve their physical healthcare needs. The course will emphasise how a patient’s mental health may impact their physical health and focus on how you can assess patients to make an appropriate diagnosis. We’ll guide you as you learn about common assessment tools and models and the principles of health education and health promotion. We’ll cover the management of physical health needs and the importance of robust consultation, decision making and therapy, including networking and referrals. This will be linked to relevant legal policy and ethical aspects specific to mental healthcare and relating to consent and mental capacity. Evidence-based practice and clinical governance will underpin the development of your knowledge and skills, and we’ll emphasise the importance of professional accountability and responsibility. We’ll also support you to learn how to develop services that consider the physical needs of the mental health population and gain knowledge of how to make recommendations for practice development. The module will be delivered in collaboration between the University of Bolton and expert clinical practitioners from practice. To benefit from studying this course, you should already a health professional with a basic understanding and some clinical experience of working within mental health.