Leadership and Management Committee (LMC)

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the Chair of the Leadership and Management Committee and Associate Registrar for Leadership and Management.

About me

I am a graduate of Nishtar Medical University and became a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2009.  I started working as a consultant in the NHS in 2012. I am currently the elected Vice Chair of the RCPsych Trent Division and have represented that Division on the Leadership and Management Committee since 2017 before being appointed Associate Registrar for  Leadership and Management on 1 April 2024 for 5 years.

Besides being a clinical and educational supervisor for trainees, I have been a CASC examiner in a lead examiner role. I have been supporting Non-Medical Prescribers and Advanced Clinical Practitioners in the complementary roles for a sustainable workforce strategy. I have significant medical management experience as Associate Medical Director/Medical Lead on clinical transformation of the Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Trust and Chair of the Medical Senate.  I have been an active member of the Medical Research and Development department, supervising MHRA approved national and international research trials as Principal Investigator.  I have also been active with media and public engagement. 

I was awarded an RCPsych Fellowship in 2020, the same year I was elected General Secretary of the British Pakistani Psychiatrists. I have been a passionate supporter of the NHS model of healthcare and firmly believe in empowering patients and carers. I have been actively involved in various initiatives with the aim of improving mental healthcare through implementation of Integrated Care Systems.

I am an advocate for enhancing medical leadership as a means to improve access to safe and effective healthcare for people when they need it. I am  excited about taking up his new position and look forward to playing a role in materialising the vision of the Royal College of Psychiatrists team. 

Dr Suhana Ahmed is a Consultant Psychiatrist – dual-trained (Old Age and General Adult). She is currently Clinical Director of Older Persons services at West London NHS Trust. She has been Director of Medical Education at South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust having completed her training there and working as an Old Age and Adult Consultant Psychiatrist.

Dr Ahmed is heavily involved with the Royal College of Psychiatrists and is currently Chair of the London Division, Deputy Chair of the Leadership and Management Committee and a member of the executive committee of the Old Age Faculty. She was also co-host of Mind Masters at International Congress in 2022.

She is interested in training, flexible working and supporting leadership and career progression in working parents. She has been a fellow with the award-winning organisation Leaders Plus, has contributed to their podcast series and now runs a mental health workshop for their programme. She is passionate about the impact of and stigma surrounding postnatal depression having talked at RCPsych international Congress in 2021 and had an article published about her experiences in The Independent.

Dr Nick Broughton is a psychiatrist by background and worked as a Consultant in Forensic Psychiatry from 2000. During the course of his career he has worked in a wide variety of secure settings including a specialist remand service, an enhanced medium secure service for women, a remand prison and a young offenders’ institution. He joined Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust as Chief Executive in June 2020.  Prior to joining the Trust, he was the Chief Executive of Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, and was Medical Director of a large specialist mental health Trust in London for almost six years.

In addition he has held a number of regional and national leadership roles and is a trustee of the Charlie Waller Memorial Trust, a national mental health charity focused on improving the mental health of young people. He has a passionate interest in leadership development and believes that the only way we can ensure a sustainable and high quality health service is by equipping those who lead it with the skills and expertise they require.

Dr Sarah Markham is the patient representative on the Leadership and Management Committee.  She is a Visiting Researcher in the Department of Biostatistics and Health Informatics, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London. She has worked with the College Centre for Quality Improvement  at RCPsych as a Patient Reviewer since 2012 and more recently with the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health.

Sarah is currently engaged in Patient Safety Review work in various parts of the UK and has learned from this the very real need for operationally supported agile and adaptive medical leadership throughout mental health and related services. She is keen to support the work of the LMC and the wider RCPsych.

Dr Mahesh Odiyoor is a Consultant Psychiatrist who specialises in the Psychiatry of Intellectual Disabilities at Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (CWP). He is an elected member of the Executive Committee of the Faculty of Intellectual Disability and was the Mersey Regional Specialty Representative from 2012 – 20. Since 2011 he has had extensive management experience as a Clinical Director at CWP for a range of services. He is currently Strategic Clinical Director for the ID, NDD and ABI care group. In this role he led the setting up of the Centre for Autism, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, and Intellectual Disability in 2019.

He is passionate about developing and delivering excellent person-centred service for service users. He was involved in the redesign of learning disability services within CWP and neighbouring organisations in the Northwest. Following the CWP redesign the Assessment and Treatment services were rated as “Outstanding” by CQC in 2015 and 2020. On a regional footprint he is involved in the transforming care for people with learning disabilities programme and is the Clinical Lead and deputy chair of the Northwest Learning Disability and ASD Operational Delivery Network. This network has led to the development and implementation of innovative practises which are being considered by NHSE/I as potential national models.

He is interested in research and teaching having been awarded an MD from the University of Liverpool in 2014. He has recently taken on the post of Honorary Senior Lecturer/Clinical Programme Leader (MSc Neuropsychiatry) at the University of Chester and is leading the development of the new MSc programme.

Dr Simmi Sachdeva-Mohan has been practicing Psychiatry since 1995 and is a Gold Medalist from Bombay University for her MD (Psychiatry). She has been a Consultant Psychiatrist since 2009 and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Dr Sachdeva-Mohan has practiced psychiatry in both Eastern and Western cultures

She has expertise in the assessment, care and treatment of mentally ill offenders, substance misuse and dual diagnosis, personality disorders, adult ADHD, mental health of refugees and asylum seekers and Perinatal Psychiatry. She is a specialist advisor to the CQC and works with the College as a Regional Advisor and a peer reviewer for ECTAS.

Hayley Tennant is the Leadership and Management Committee's carer representative, with lived experience of supporting close family with severe mental health disorders and psychosis.

She has over twenty-five years of leadership and management experience operating at PLC, third sector and SME board level. She is a qualified Chartered Fellow with the Institute of Personnel and Development, an executive coach, and Institute of Leadership and Management lead for leadership and management qualifications and, development programmes. She is an interim Chief People Officer – director of people and resources with a strong commercial background.

Dr Subha Thiyagesh is a Medical Director at South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and is also a Consultant in Older People’s Services. She was awarded a Doctorate in Medicine and the Nye Bevan NHS Leadership Academy Award in Executive Healthcare Leadership. She was also the winner of the Leader of the Year award in her Trust’s Excellence awards.

She has held a number of posts in Training and Education and has a real passion for providing a high quality learning environment for doctors and currently supports the Trust Medical Leadership Pathway. Dr Thiyagesh joined the Leadership and Management Committee in 2019 and is very excited to be part of it.

Dr Alex Till is a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS FT and the Founder and Director of the RCPsych Leadership and Management Fellow Scheme.