Assistant Director of Clinical Programmes & Clinical Lead (CYP Mental Health)

What relevant experience do you have to perform your current role?

I have over 20 years’ experience working in services supporting children and young people’s mental health and emotional wellbeing.  This has included work across the full spectrum of mental health need and in a broad range of community, specialist, and secure settings.  I have worked in a variety of roles, including clinical delivery, operational management and strategic/professional leadership.  More recently I have had extensive involvement in the development of new roles and delivery of national mental health policy.

What excites you about working at South East Mental Health Team?

I have lived in the South East of England my whole life and have worked within the region since my original professional training, so have a huge commitment to the mental health and emotional wellbeing of children, young people, and their families/carers within the region.

We are fortunate to have a strong children and young people’s mental health team in the region, with a broad range of experience and backgrounds.  There have been some incredibly positive, impactful, trailblazing, programmes of work within the region over recent years, and it is exciting to be able to contribute to, and extend on, these.

What difference are you making to improve the care and health outcomes of patients or members of the public?

Throughout my career I have been passionate about improving timely access to high-quality and effective mental health and emotional wellbeing support for all children, young people, and families/carers, across the full spectrum of need.   I am also passionate about ensuring we have a workforce with a sufficient level of training and competence so that children and young people can access the right support from the right people at the right time and in the right place. I am determined that our approaches are inclusive, think family, and grounded in evidence-based practice.  One of the key strands of my work to date with NHSE has been around translating research findings into understandable and accessible guides to support service planning, delivery models, and workforce planning.