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Mood disorders: Emerging evidence and evolving care
One Day Event
| Timings | 9:25am - 4.45pm |
| Location | The Edwardian Hotel, Manchester |
| CPD | 1 point per hour of educational activity can be allocated, pending peer approval |
| Non-Member Fee | £208 |
|---|---|
| Consultant Fee | £187 |
| SAS Doctor / Higher Resident Fee | £161 |
| Core Resident / Retired / Subsidised Member Fee | £108 |
| Medical Student & Foundation Doctors / Patient and Carer Fee | £28 |
Event Information
This year the North West Spring Conference will cover the topic of 'Mood disorders – Emerging evidence and evolving care'.
This conference will offer psychiatrists at all stages an overview of updates on mood symptoms and disorders, bringing together established knowledge and emerging developments to support evidence-based, personalised practice. The programme will focus on core diagnostic understanding, address assessment and management challenges with co-morbidities and explore future directions in mood disorder care across clinical settings.
| Time | Presentation |
|---|---|
| 8.30 – 9.25am | Registration |
| 9.25 – 9.30am | Chair’s welcome Dr Nish Babu Mathew, Chair of the RCPsych North West Division |
| 9.30 – 10.15am | Lithium: new research on the old element Professor Allan Young Head of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London |
| 10.15 - 11am | Assessment and management of depression in older adults Dr Suhana Ahmed Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist, Deputy Chief Medical Officer at West London NHS Trust and Chair of RCPsych London Division |
| 11 – 11.30am | Comfort break |
| 11.30am – 12:15pm | Adolescent Depression: Emerging Evidence and Evolving Care Professor Bernadka Dubicka Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Hull York Medical School University of York and Consultant Psychiatrist, Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust |
| 12:15 – 1pm | Oral Poster Presentations |
| 1 - 2pm | Lunch break |
| 2– 2.45pm | Psychological interventions in mood disorders Dr Melanie Davis Counselling Psychologist, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust |
| 2.45 – 3.30pm | Managing Difficult to Treat Depression: Treatment Sequencing, Augmentation, and Novel Pharmacotherapies Dr Baxi Sinha Consultant Psychiatrist and Deputy Medical Director (International Recruitment), Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust |
| 3.30 – 3.45pm | Comfort break |
| 3.45 - 4.30pm | Introduction to neuromodulation: TMS/ECT Dr Richard Barnes Consultant Old Age Psychiatrist, Neuromodulation lead, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust |
| 4.30 – 4.40pm | Poster Prize Presentations |
| 4.40 – 4.45pm | Final Comments and Close of Day Dr Nish Babu Mathew Chair of the RCPsych North West Division |
| 4.45-6.30pm | Drinks Reception |
Professor Allan Young: Lithium: new research on the old element
Professor Young’s research interests focus on the cause and treatments for severe psychiatric illnesses, particularly mood disorders. He has received research grants from many funding agencies and has over 800 peer-reviewed publications, including several books about psychopharmacology and affective disorders. His H-index is 149 with over 123000 citations of his papers (Google Scholar). Recent publications have been in the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Medicine, JAMA Psychiatry, World Psychiatry and Lancet Psychiatry. Professor Young is a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher: this highly anticipated annual list identifies researchers who demonstrated significant influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers during the last decade. Their names are drawn from the publications that rank in the top 1% by citations for field and publication year in the Web of Science™ citation index.
Dr Suhana Ahmed: Assessment and management of depression in older adults
Dr Suhana Ahmed is a Consultant Psychiatrist – dual-trained (Old Age and General Adult). She is currently Deputy Chief Medical Officer at West London NHS Trust. Prior to this, she was Clinical Director for Older Persons Mental Health Services. She is also North West London Higher Resident Doctor Leadership and Management Tutor.
She has been Director of Medical Education at South West London & St George’s (SWLSTG) Mental Health Trust having completed her training there. Dr Ahmed is heavily involved with the Royal College of Psychiatrists and is currently Chair of the London Division. She is interested in training, flexible working and supporting leadership and career progression in working parents. She has contributed to a number of podcasts on these issues. In 2024, she received RCPsych London Division Award in recognition of leadership and inspiration. In 2023, she was shortlisted for RCPsych Psychiatrist of the Year. She was featured in BMJ Careers in 2025. She has recently had a chapter published in the book ‘Personally Speaking’. She is a mummy to a thirteen-year-old boy and loves cats, reading and cake.
Dr Baxi Sinha: Managing Difficult to Treat Depression: Treatment Sequencing, Augmentation, and Novel Pharmacotherapies
Dr Baxi Sinha has been a Consultant Psychiatrist with Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust since 2007. He works within the adult community mental health service and leads the Trust’s pioneering Ketamine Service for Treatment‑Resistant Depression—one of the few specialist NHS centres of its kind in the UK.
In his role as Deputy Medical Director for International Recruitment, he has helped strengthen Trust’s medical workforce and reduce reliance on agency locums. His leadership experience spans medical education—as ADME, Senior GP/FP Tutor, and CESR Tutor—as well as clinical management, as Clinical Director. Nationally, he supports several key organisations, including the RCPsych and the GMC.
Dr Sinha’s professional interests include research and academics; has served as PI for clinical studies, published peer‑reviewed articles, contributed book chapters in, and undertakes peer‑review for scientific journals. He also has a strong interest in medical information technology, particularly the emerging role of Artificial Intelligence in healthcare.
Dr Richard Barnes: Introduction to Neuromodulation
Dr Barnes is the Lead Consultant for Neuromodulation for Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. Prior to this he was a consultant in Old Age Psychiatry for over 25 years.
He works for 2 days a week and on the other days puts his feet up – a work/life balance he recommends.
This year's conference will be held at The Edwardian Hotel located in Manchester’s city centre near Spinningfields business district.
Venue website: Book 5* The Edwardian Manchester, A Radisson Collection Hotel
Venue address: Free Trade Hall, Peter Street, Manchester, Manchester, M2 5GP, United Kingdom
On the day:
All lectures will take place in the Halle Suite.
All refreshment breaks and lunch will be served in the Halle Lounge Bar.
How to get to the venue:
Car:
Sat Nav address: Free Trade Hall, Peter St, Manchester M2 5GP.
There are two parking options available nearby to The Edwardian Manchester.
Great Northern NCP Car Park: located on Watson Street, Manchester, M3 4EE (about 5 minute walk) and this ranges from £29-50 per 24 hours and payment is made directly at the NCP.
Q-Parks, First St Car Park, M15 4FN: located off Medlock St (about 10-15 minute walk) which is approximately £13-25 per 24 hours. We advise you to book this in advance via the car park webpage where you can also get a discount of 25% using code: REHQPFS25
Train or Tram:
The nearest tram station to The Edwardian Manchester, A Radisson Collection Hotel is St Peter's Square (Metrolink). The nearest mainline stations are Manchester Piccadilly (1 mile) and Manchester Victoria (1 mile).
Plane:
The hotel is about 14 km from Manchester airport and takes around 20 minutes by car via the M56.
The hotel is about 53 km from Liverpool John Lennon Airport and takes around 50 minutes by car via the M62.
Each year the North West Division runs a poster competition for medical students, foundation doctors, resident doctors, and SAS doctors at the Division's Conference.
There are three categories, which will be dependent on the entrants taking part and will include:
- Best medical student/FY1-2 poster
- Best resident (core) poster
- Best resident (higher)/SAS doctor poster
Up to three first-place entrants, one from each category, will be selected to give a seven-minute presentation plus three minutes for questions at the North West Division Conference. Each winner will receive a £100 prize and a certificate of merit.
Find out more via the Competition webpage. Entries are now closed for the Spring 2026 Competition.
Please read our terms and conditions before making your booking.
For further information, please contact:
Email: division.events@rcpsych.ac.uk
Contact Name: Division Events Team
Contact number: 0208 618 4240