Leadership and Management Fellow Scheme
2026/27 Programme
The Royal College of Psychiatrists Leadership and Management Fellow Scheme aims to develop and support a new cohort of emerging medical leaders within psychiatry.
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2026/27 Scheme Programme
This is the programme outline for the 2026/27 Leadership and Management Fellow Scheme.
Most modules will be delivered via Zoom from 9.15am-4.30pm. This year we have introduced a fourth face-to-face day which will take place in February. The Welcome day in September followed by the Politics, Power, Persuasion and Partnership module in January and the Conscious Leadership day in February will all take place in-person from 9.15am-4.30pm. The final face-to-face day will be the Celebrating Success event in June 2027 which will run from 10am-3.00pm. Nominees who are successful in obtaining a place on the scheme are required to attend each module in full please check the LMFS assessment requirements and expectations.
All four in-person modules will take place at 21 Prescot St, London (participants in the scheme should reclaim expenses from their local organisation). Modules will not be recorded or available to watch on demand. The full list of dates will be published by late May. Please note that there may be unavoidable instances where module dates and/or timings may need to be changed and if so Fellows will be informed at the earliest opportunity.
| Module title | Date | In-person/Virtual | Module leads | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The RCPsych Leadership and Management Fellow Scheme | Tuesday 15 September 2026 | In-person (21 Prescot Street, London) | Dr David Bishop, Dr Saleema Durgahee, Dr Sanah Ghafoor, Dr Marcin Ostrowski |
| 2 | Authentic leadership: learning your own leadership style | Friday 18 September 2026 | Virtual session (Zoom) | Dr Suhana Ahmed, Director of Medical Education of West London NHS Trust Dr Derek Tracy, Chief Medical Officer of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust |
| 3 | My project and me | TBC October 2026 | Virtual session (Zoom) | |
| 4 | Clinical informatics and digital leadership
| Thursday 5 November 2026 | Virtual session (Zoom) | Dr Ayesha Rahim, Deputy Medical Director and Chief Clinical Information Officer – Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Asif Bachlani, Consultant Psychiatrist and Clinical Lead for Woking Autism/ASC Pathway, Priory Hospital, Woking
|
| 5 |
Politics, Power and Persuasion (Part 1)
|
Wednesday 2 December 2026 |
Virtual session (Zoom) |
Charlotte Cummings, Eden and Partners |
| 6 |
Politics, Power and Persuasion (Part 2)
| Wednesday 13 January 2027 | In-person (21 Prescot Street, London) | Catherine Eden, Managing Director, Eden and Partners |
| 7 |
Conscious Leadership
|
Tuesday 10 February 2027 | In-person (21 Prescot Street, London) | Dr Katy Mason, Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist and Medical Psychotherapist, Lancashire |
| 8 | Inclusive Leadership: leading effective teams | TBC March 2027 | Virtual session (Zoom) | Dr Ananta Dave, Medical Director – Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
|
| 9 | Connection across the system | TBC April 2027 | Virtual session (Zoom) | Dr Billy Boland, Medical Director – South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust |
| 10 |
A celebration: from then, to now, to next | Friday 4 June 2027 |
In-person (21 Prescot Street, London) |
Dr David Bishop, Dr Saleema Durgahee, Dr Sanah Ghafoor, Dr Marcin Ostrowski |
Additionally, there will be three mentor information sessions via Zoom:
- TBC September 2026, 12-1pm
- TBC November 2026, 12-1pm
- TBC February 2027, 12-1pm
Module overviews
Here you can locate the module overviews for the 2026/27 Leadership and Management Fellow Scheme.
Doctors should endeavour to know and understand themselves, their impact on others and be constantly striving to improve. This module supports fellows to start this process and provides them with tools to continue. The module covers how leaders across of their career spans have developed their own leadership and how their style varies. The fellows are given the opportunity to reflect on their own personalities and the impact this has on how they lead. The theory behind different leadership styles are covered alongside identifying your own values and how all these components fit together. We cover how our behaviours and leadership styles may impact others, including in some true to life scenarios involving conflict.
The module leads (with their very different personality and leadership styles!) provide you with a safe space, knowledge, tools & their own personal experience and reflections to help you develop into an authentic leader, even in the most challenging situations.
The Projects Module is designed to advance leadership development by providing fellows with essential project management skills to drive meaningful service improvement. The module combines focused knowledge bursts, opportunities to present project ideas, and insights from eminent change leaders. Using a structured approach grounded in proven improvement methodologies and tools, it emphasises meaningful engagement with staff, service users, and carers, alongside robust measurement, reflection, and continuous learning to deliver sustainable change. Experiential learning through project pitches, peer feedback, and real-time application encourages fellows to “learn by doing,” building confidence and capability to navigate complex systems, address resistance, and embed improvements. Reflection and feedback are integral throughout, ensuring leadership growth is continuous and firmly rooted in real-world challenges.
Fellows will need to prepare a recorded presentation about their project at the module taking place in October.
The digital module of the LMFS is designed to equip the next generation of medical leaders in psychiatry with a clear understanding of the challenges, complexities and the opportunities that digital transformation brings to mental health. The module does not focus on technical expertise (none of which is a necessary prerequisite to the module), and instead emphasises the leadership skills necessary to harness the opportunities that digital advancements bring to mental health services. This module will help foster critical thinking, innovative leadership, and practical solutions to enhance patient outcomes, service efficiency and staff experience. Completion of the module will help future medical leaders to discriminate between the hype, and the genuinely transformative digital innovations. The module is designed and developed by Drs Ayesha Rahim, and Asif Bachlani – both of whom have large-scale digital transformation experience at a local and national level.
Led by Charlotte Cummings, a facilitator who specialises in organisational and leadership development in the NHS, this engaging course brings the context of our health and care system to life, offering you a clear and ‘jargon-free’ look at how decisions are made and who’s behind them.
You’ll explore the evolution of our health and care system and its key players, to understand how their decisions shape the services we deliver every day. With real-world examples, and group discussions, you’ll dive into the practical side of how policies impact your role, and the care patients receive. This session isn’t just theory—it’s about giving you the tools and insights to navigate the evolving NHS and actively contribute to improving services. This course is designed to make the politics and policies of the health and care accessible, relevant, and directly applicable to your role.
Politics, Power, Persuasion and Partnership is a one day, immersive simulation that supports doctors to better understand the wider, local system in which they are working, the impact of organisational and big ‘P’ politics, how that understanding can help ‘get things done’ and influence change more successfully. The day supports the development of non-clinical skills such as influencing, working in partnership across organisations, preparing to defend a position publicly and receiving challenge from people who use, oversee and work with NHS staff; all skills that are vital for doctors as they advance in their career.
Participants become leaders of a health and care economy, exploring the relationships and tensions between NHS organisations, local authorities and the VCSE sector affording a safe forum to test the water and identify the means and opportunities for integrated working within the health and care family. The day culminates in ‘the system’ presenting to a Scrutiny Committee on a current topic.
Have you ever wondered why people behave in ways that seem irrational or counterintuitive, despite common sense and clinical guidelines? What toll does working with mental disturbance take on individuals and institutions? Can organisations become “mad”? Why is it so hard to change harmful practices?
This module explores how unconscious processes shape leadership, team dynamics, and organisational culture in psychiatry. Through four core theoretical frameworks: psychodynamic theory, group analysis, systems theory, and mentalisation theory, you’ll learn to recognise and work with hidden dynamics that influence everyday practice.
Participants are asked to complete some brief preparatory reading before the day to help them get the most out of the experience. The day includes lectures, facilitated group discussions, experiential exercises and a case study analysing the Edenfield scandal.
Participants will reflect on their own experiences and leave with greater self-awareness and practical tools to lead reflectively and effectively.
An essential module for any future psychiatric leader.