About NCCMH and our work
The NCCMH is a collaboration between the Royal College of Psychiatrists and University College London.
We work together with organisations, people with lived experience, their families and carers, and clinicians and academics, in the UK and around the world. We utilise the best available evidence and put lived experience at the heart of our work, to:
- improve population mental health
- improve people’s access to, experience of and outcomes from mental health care
- advance mental health equity and equality
- increase co-production in mental health care, through research, policy and quality improvement
- ensure that mental health care is:
- compassionate
- evidence-based
- relational
- sustainable
- trauma-informed.
Founded in 2001 by Tim Kendall and Steve Pilling, the NCCMH developed 36 NICE mental health guidelines. Since 2016, the NCCMH has continued to develop evidence-based guidance, as well as evaluations, workforce competences and reviews, to support the delivery of high-quality mental health care.
In 2018, we were commissioned by NHS England to run quality improvement collaboratives as part of the Mental Health Safety Improvement Programme. We have also delivered several subscription-based QI collaboratives. From 2024, we have partnered with Black Thrive Global, the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health, and Neurodiverse Connection to run the Culture of Care programme as part of NHS England’s quality transformation programme.
At the NCCMH, we care about people’s mental health and wellbeing. We believe everyone should have equal access to high-quality mental health care, with a platform to voice their needs, at home and work or in education, and in hospital and the community.
To help make this happen, we work with others at a local, national and international level, supporting the improvement of mental health services and redressing mental health inequalities.
We work with stakeholders, including clinicians, people with lived experience and other experts in their field, to deliver products and services including:
- clinical guidelines (developed for NICE and internationally)
- competence frameworks (skills, knowledge, values and attitudes for mental health professionals)
- quality improvement (quality improvement programmes for mental health and patient safety)
- reports and research (systematic reviews, rapid reviews, evaluations and reports)
- service design and development (mental health
care pathways/frameworks and implementation guidance).
We're led by Clinical and Strategic Directors Professor Tim Kendall and Professor Russell Razzaque from the College, and Academic and Strategic Director Professor Steve Pilling from University College London.
The work is overseen on a day-to-day basis by Tom Ayers (Director), Emily Cannon (Head of Quality Improvement), Dr Katherine Clarke (Head of Research), Sal Smith (Head of Quality Improvement and Co-production), and Dr Clare Taylor (Head of Quality and Research Development).
The rest of the team is composed of researchers, quality improvement coaches, project managers, an editor and a designer.
Our research team brings together experts, including people with lived experience, to review the evidence and develop guidance, reports, competence frameworks and reviews. Services, commissioners and others working in health and social care then use them to raise the standards of mental health care on a local, national and international level.
Our QI team work with mental health teams, inpatient services and across the wider community, to improve how they function and operate.
We have an NCCMH Equality Advisory Group (EAG), a standing committee of people from a diverse range of backgrounds with lived and learned experiences of mental health services in the UK. The EAG supports the NCCMH to adhere to its commitment to actively advance equality and co-production. The group meets regularly to discuss NCCMH projects from a co-production and equalities perspective.
All our work is underpinned by our commitment to co-production (working collaboratively with people, without hierarchy) and reducing inequalities in mental health care.
By being open to improvements and individual requests, the NCCMH have made the process of co-production more inclusive while being aware that more can be done. – Steph de la Haye, Expert by experience; Chair and Founder at Survivors of Depression In Transition; Service User Governor – Sheffield Health & Social Care NHS Foundation Trust
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Gbenga Adedeji | Quality Improvement Coach |
| Aarti Agrwal | Quality Improvement Coach |
| Saiqa Akhtar | Senior Quality Improvement Advisor |
| Fran Andrew | Projects and Events Administrator |
| Dr Laura-Louise Arundell | Lead Researcher and Developer |
| Tom Ayers | Director of NCCMH |
| Josh Bailey | Quality Improvement Coach |
| Hebah Bhatt | Research Assistant |
| Adele de Bono | Senior Quality Improvement Advisor |
| Emily Cannon | Head of Quality Improvement |
| Delicha Changa | Quality Improvement Coach |
| Dr Katherine Clarke | Head of Research |
| Caitlin Cockroft | Quality Improvement Coach |
| Nuala Ernest | Senior Editor |
| Liah El-Fadel | Quality Improvement Coach |
| Dr Blossom Fernandes | Research Fellow |
| Clementine Fitch Bunce | Quality Improvement Coach |
| Aarti Gandesha | Senior Quality Improvement Advisor |
| Eva Gautam-Aiken | Senior Programme Manager |
| Helen Greenwood | Research and Design Officer |
| Rianna Herbert | Quality Improvement Coach |
| Ruby James | Project Manager |
| Sonia Jones | Executive Assistant to the Director and Heads of NCCMH |
| Prof. Tim Kendall | International Clinical and Strategic Director of NCCMH; National Clinical Director for Mental Health, NHS England; Visiting Professor, University College London; Medical Director and Consultant Psychiatrist for the homeless, Sheffield Health and Social Care NHS Foundation Trust |
| Erika Kouzoukas | Project Manager |
| Hannah Lautch | Quality Improvement Coach |
| Rachel McGowan | Quality Improvement Coach |
| Megan McKee | Quality Improvement Coach |
| Dr Matthew Milarski | Head of Quality Improvement |
| Professor Steve Pilling | Academic and Strategic Director of NCCMH; Professor of Clinical Psychology & Clinical Effectiveness, Clinical, Education & Health Psychology, University College London |
| Joanna Popis | Project Manager |
| Prof. Russell Razzaque | Clinical and Strategic Director of NCCMH; Consultant Psychiatrist; Clinical Director and Director of Research & Development, Community Mental Health Transformation, North East London NHS Foundation Trust; Visiting Professor, London South Bank University; Presidential Lead for Compassionate & Relational Care, RCPsych |
| Anna Roach | Quality Improvement Coach |
| Dr Alan Roberts | Research Fellow |
| Niamh Roberts | Quality Improvement Coach |
| Ami Saito | Quality Improvement Data Analyst |
| Sal Smith | Head of Lived Experience and Co-production |
| Dr Clare Taylor | Head of Quality Assurance and Business Development |
| Jaz Seehra | Quality Improvement Coach |
| Renata Souza | Senior Quality Improvement Advisor |
| Ros Warby | Senior Quality Improvement Advisor |
| Bethan Warner | Quality Improvement Coach |
| Dr Megan Watkins | Head of the Public Mental Health Implementation Centre |
| Hazel Webb | Culture of Care Programme Manager |
The NCCMH management board meet quarterly to oversee the NCCMH on behalf of the College.
Tom Ayers | Director, NCCMH
Emily Cannon | Head of Quality Improvement, NCCMH
Harriet Clarke | Head of Quality and Accreditation, CCQI
Katherine Clarke | Head of Research, NCCMH
John Crichton | Treasurer, Royal College of Psychiatrists
Subodh Dave | Dean, Royal College of Psychiatrists
Mary Jane Docherty | Quality Networks – Clinical and Strategic Director, CCQI
Peter Fonagy | Chief Executive Officer, Anna Freud Centre
Tim Kendall | International Clinical and Strategic Director, NCCMH
Hannah Lucas-Motley | Head of Quality and Accreditation, CCQI
Steve Pilling | Academic and Strategic Director, NCCMH
Alan Quirk | Head of Clinical Audit and Research, CCQI
Russell Razzaque | Clinical and Strategic Director, NCCMH
Trudi Seneviratne | Registrar, Royal College of Psychiatrists
Lade Smith (Chair) | President, Royal College of Psychiatrists
Sal Smith | Head of Lived Experience and Co-production, NCCMH
Clare Taylor | Head of Quality Assurance and Business Development, NCCMH
Peter Thompson | Director, CCQI
Sonia Walter | Chief Executive Officer, Royal College of Psychiatrists
Megan Watkins | Head of the Public Mental Health Implementation Centre
Our latest work
Increasing physical activity
Our new report for Sport England, evaluating the impact on treatment outcomes for anxiety and depression.
AMHE Evaluation Snapshot 2
Evaluation snapshot report (PDF), of Waves 1 & 2 of the Advancing Mental Health Equity QI Collaborative.
Social prescribers in Wales
The competence framework for social prescribers in Wales has been published.
Enjoying Work resource
Step-by-step guide (PDF) from the Enjoying Work QI Collaborative, for improving staff enjoyment at work.
Tobacco services and SMI
Our evaluation of early implementer community-based tobacco dependency services.
NHS Talking Therapies Manual
The NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression Manual has been updated (version 7).
