Mentoring

This mentoring scheme is entirely voluntary and was originally aimed at doctors taking up their first consultant post or those about to take on new responsibilities. Since November 2018 the scheme has expanded to include SAS grade doctors and senior trainees.

The mentors are predominantly consultant psychiatrists working within the West Midlands who have been consultants for at least 3 years. From Nov 2018, training and inclusion on the register has been extended to include SAS grade doctors and senior trainees.

If you would like to become a mentor, you should attend the annual introductory training day/workshop. CPD workshops are also scheduled throughout the year.

If you are inspired to become a mentor or would like to be put in touch with a mentor, please email or call the division office with your details. The list of mentors is available below.

The mentee and mentor should complete the registration form at their initial meeting.

CPD Meeting

Local support and development meetings are scheduled to take place virtually via Microsoft Teams. Please see details below of the upcoming meetings.

  • 6 March 2024 between 2pm and 4pm
  • 26 June 2024 between 2pm and 4pm
  • 25 September 2024 between 2pm and 4pm
  • 4 December 2024 between 2pm and 4pm.

All psychiatrists providing mentoring are welcome to attend.

Please contact westmidlands@rcpsych.ac.uk for further details and to confirm your attendance.

To suggest improvements to the scheme, please contact the Divisional Leads for Mentoring, Dr Andrew Leahy and Dr Naresh Rasquinha, via the division office.

West Midlands Mentoring leads

Biography

Originally trained as G.P. Became child/adolescent psychiatrist. Experience at senior management level in NHS and private sector. Now retired from mainstream NHS practice. Continue to work for various organisations in mainly regulatory functions and as a section 12 approved doctor.

Trained as coach and mentor leading up to retirement and this is now my main interest. Work with the NHS academy as a career coach and mentor, Royal College of Psychiatrists as joint mentoring lead for the West Midlands.

I have a longstanding interest in creating a context in which people can produce positive change in their lives. Early in my career I developed a personal and professional interest in humanistic psychology. This eventually led me to train as a coach and mentor. I am now a passionate advocate for the use of both in helping people develop both professionally and personally.

I believe that it is possible for us to improve the way we do things both in our working and personal lives by a combination of developing insight, reflection and action. I consider the work of coaching and mentoring is essentially about empowering people, helping them release their own “inner genius.”

Biography

Naresh is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Regional Medical Director for Midlands & Wales at Cygnet Health Care. He has extensive experience of working as a Consultant Psychiatrist in a wide variety of settings including medium security, low security, rehabilitation, personality disorder, PICU and Acute wards.

He is the Deputy Chair of the Accreditation Committee of the Quality Network for Working Adults(QNWA) at the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He is also a Member of the Board of Examiners at the Royal College of Psychiatrists and a peer reviewer for AIMS rehab and QNWA at the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Naresh was a Visiting Clinical Researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry and he has published in high impact peer reviewed journals as well as presented at national and international conferences. He is passionate about quality improvement and he has actively led service improvement initiatives.

He has a particular interest in ensuring that the benefits of mentoring and coaching are extended to all psychiatrists including those newly arrived in the U.K. and those in the independent and voluntary sector.

Read more to receive further information regarding a career in psychiatry