Philip Ross joined the DIMHN board in 2013, working initially on the membership scheme and then moving to the Testing and Innovation workstream in 2015. In 2020 he was elected as Chair, following on from Jenny Gill’s leadership.

His involvement in the testing guidance development with BRE was mainly driven by a frustration also shared by specifiers; the lack of clarity and repeatability of testing methods which made it challenging and slow for lifesaving innovations to get adopted, not to mention the significant costs of testing with every Trust or Health Board.

He is Co-Founder and Director of Safehinge Primera, a doorset and hardware manufacturer who help architects, estates and clinical staff improve mental health environments by resolving some of the biggest safety issues and barriers to empowering patients.

Safehinge Primera’s purpose is to design for good and to help protect people through vulnerable times. Philip is driven by the same purpose and passion to deliver considered, empathetic and compassionate solutions to the challenges of mental health environments.

Jonathan Campbell is a Chartered NHS Director of Estates and Facilities with over 20 years’ experience of mental health, acute and community services.

He is a firm believer of the importance of the environment for recovery and that safe, robust and secure environments must also be therapeutic and healing.

As part of his role at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, Jonathan is currently the estates and facilities management lead on the transaction and disaggregation and redevelopment of the North Manchester General Hospital site.

Phil Barsby is Director of Business Development for Intastop Ltd. Phil has been with the company for over 20 years, and has been instrumental in the strategic direction the company has taken which is heavily focused in the Mental Health Sector
Phil’s vision for the future encompasses a drive to ensure regulations around mental health products continues to be at the forefront of legislation. For Intastop, his vision continues to be delivering exceptional customer service whilst addressing the needs of changing industry and environmental demands through a programme of product enhancement and development.

Successful textiles entrepreneur, former Director in the Caudwell Group, Trudi has been the CEO at Caudwell Children since its inception in 2000. Over the past 19 years Trudi has orchestrated the charity’s continued growth and become an influential voice within the voluntary sector.

Passionate about Caudwell Children’s impact, it was Trudi’s vision to develop the new Caudwell International Children’s Centre and further the charity’s work providing national and international significance.

Construction of the new purpose-built facility and the launch of the charity’s innovative new autism service is the latest milestone in a long term strategy devised by Trudi to reduce assessment waiting times and improve post-diagnosis support for autistic children.

Cath Lake is an architect with over 15 years’ practical experience in the design and delivery of mental health facilities for both private clients and for NHS Trusts and is the Mental Health lead for P+HS Architects.

From her first project as a qualified Architect she realised the impact an environment can have on anyone going through a difficult time. She gets to witness the delight that buildings and spaces can bring to the human spirit, but understands the negative impact poorly designed spaces can have on our mental health – and that is crucial. ‘My passion for designing places that really make a difference keeps me energised every day.’

She has a hands-on approach and has delivered a wide range of projects all of which share an ambition to improve mental healthcare provision. Experience includes detailed design and construction expertise relating to Dementia, Acute, Learning Disability, CAMHS, Secure and Specialist services.

Steve is Professor of Health and Organizational Psychology at Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University. His research interests are around service user experiences of secure mental health care and social remembering within marginalised and excluded groups. He is author of Vital Memory and Affect: Living with a difficult past (with Paula Reavey, 2015, Routledge), Psychology without Foundations: History, philosophy and psychosocial theory (with Paul Stenner, 2009, Sage) and The Social Psychology of Experience: Studies in remembering and forgetting (with David Middleton, 2005, Sage).

Paula Reavey is Professor of Psychology at London South Bank University, research lead and consultant on projects at the Maudsley and Royal Bethlem hospitals and honorary research consultant at St. Andrew’s Healthcare. She has co-edited two volumes, New Feminist Stories of Child Sexual Abuse: Sexual Scripts and Dangerous Dialogues (with Sam Warner, Routledge, 2003) and Memory Matters: Contexts for Understanding Sexual Abuse Recollections (with Janice Haaken, Psychology Press, 2009), and a sole edited volume, Visual Methods in Psychology: Using and Interpreting Images in Qualitative Research (Routledge, 2011 – now in its second edition).

Lianne is a Director in Medical Architecture’s Newcastle upon Tyne office, jointly managing the local team. A Senior Architect, Lianne has almost 15 years’ specialised experience in the architectural design and planning of healthcare buildings. Her interest and expertise in designing for mental health has led to work on a wide range of acute and forensic mental health projects across the UK and in Canada.

Katharine Lazenby is a People Participation Worker for East London NHS Foundation Trust, working to increase the meaningful participation of service users and carers in the transformation of community mental health services. She is a mental health Expert by Experience, and is passionate about the importance of service-user involvement and coproduction within the design of mental health care and environments.

Katharine is a tutor at the City & Hackney Recovery College and a volunteer at Maytree Respite Centre for the suicidal, where she supports people in suicidal crisis and delivers training for volunteers.

She draws on both her personal and professional experience to deliver mental health training for a range of audiences, including care and support staff at Peabody Housing Association and community psychologists in East London. She has experience as a university lecturer and is regular public speaker.

Beatrice is a designer and ergonomist with evidenced expertise in user centred design. She has proven experience in how to deliver design for buildings and spaces that increase human well-being are beautiful and cost effective.

Alex is an architect and founder of ACA+I Ltd. With a can-do attitude, sound judgement and intuition, he has led the design of healthcare facilities in England, Spain and his native Italy, where collaboration and innovation are the key drivers. His dedication to the highest design standards and sustainability is instrumental in defining the brief to translate spatial and operational requirements analysis into intelligent building forms. A member of the Housing and Dementia Research Consortium, Alex sees design for Mental Health and Social Care as “lifelong learning” which continuously offers fresh opportunities for the form to follow the function whilst stimulating the senses.

Richard is an experienced collaborative Estates professional, with a strong commercial and strategic approach to managing teams, projects, and master planning. Chartered Engineer, Project Management, Design, Construction, FM, and Accountancy background across a number of sectors including Healthcare, and owner of a consultancy business. Currently Director of Estates and Facilities at Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust.

Jen is an experienced Design Manager with Integrated Health Products (IHP), working predominately in the mental health sector. Over the last number of years, Jen has worked closely with Trusts and suppliers to specifically develop existing mental health products and methods of construction in order to mitigate historical issues. This has led to numerous product enhancements, ultimately leading to a safer environment.

Kevin is the Chairman and owner of Britplas. He is the multi-award-winning inventor of products that have had a positive effect on patient safety and wellbeing. He has worked on countless mental health projects worldwide, both new build and refurbishments, and has garnered a great deal of experience and a large network of knowledgeable friends along the way.

He is one of the founder members of DIMHN and has been right at the heart of the Network’s formative years. Heavily involved in the original Better Bedroom Initiative, Kevin conceived the testing standards initiative. He stepped down from the board in 2016 and received the first ‘Outstanding Contribution Award’ from his fellow board members.

Karen is a Chartered Landscape Architect with over 35 years’ experience. She is Managing Director of Iteriad, a DiMHN member and landscape design practice specialising in the design of outdoor spaces for mental health and healthcare environments. Karen’s interest is in creating sensory spaces that aim to touch nature and that capture a special spirit of place, for all specialisms including Dementia, Learning Disabilities, Acute, Secure and CAMHS.

Vicky is an experienced Interior Designer, who has spent 19 years working in the Mental Health sector. Following 14 years as Lead Interior Designer and later an Associate with Gilling Dod Architects, Vicky Joined Teal Furniture in early 2018.

With a passion for furniture design, and an absolute understanding of the crucial role it can play in creating safe, non-clinical and calming environments, Vicky has more recently joined Knightsbridge Furniture as National Business Development Manager. Now collaborating with partners across multiple sectors, Vicky is keen to explore how styles, trends and innovations from the wider world of contract furniture and Interior Design can positively influence interior choices within mental health settings.

Stephen Parker is a licensed architect in the United States and dedicated Behavioral Health Planner at Stantec, serving as mental health design subject matter expert for North America and beyond. His projects range from community-scale recovery centres to expansive mental health campuses, with work ranging from China, India, Kenya and across the US & Canada.

As the former Co-Chair of the AIA (American Institute of Architects) Strategic Council’s Mental Health+Architecture Incubator and co-author of the US Department of Veterans Affairs new Inpatient Mental Health Design Guide, Stephen is a firm believer in “architect as advocate”, service leadership and dignity-driven design research for communities in crisis.

William is an architect and a healthcare researcher, working for Llewelyn Davies. He has developed mental health patient facilities in the NHS and contributed to the development of new CQC guidelines. He was shortlisted for the Design in Mental Health Network award and his work has been exhibited at the European Healthcare Design Conference.

He spent ten years of his architectural career in the cultural and commercial sectors, before completing a Masters of Research degree in Healthcare and Design in 2019, focusing on mental health care. For him, the most rewarding aspects of research are the personal and in-depth engagements with patients. As a design professional, researcher and service user, William has a grasp of the challenges in healthcare from a range of perspectives and is keen to see improvements in the industry which are patient centred.

Jenny is an experienced healthcare planner specialising in the field of mental health. She has a background in Mental Health NHS Management and has been involved in the mental health sector for over two decades. Jenny has been involved in the design of many mental health facilities and was commissioned by the Department of Health as technical author for the Health Building Note (HBN) 03-01 (2013) – Adult acute mental health units and HBN 03-02 – Facilities for child and adolescent mental health services (2017). She also led the DiMHN input to the joint work undertaken with NAPICU (National Association of Psychiatric Intensive Care and low secure units) publication ‘Design Guidance for Psychiatric Intensive Care Units’ (2017). Jenny spent 7 years as Chairman of DiMHN, recently retired and has accepted the honorary role of Chair Emeritus.

Joe is a mental health nurse with interests in the social environment and human-scale development. He promotes networking as a means of collaboration for positive change. After an extensive career in clinical work he remains involved in teaching, consultancy and social enterprise. He is a frequent presenter at various events where he challenges audiences to set aside preconceptions and adopt new styles of partnership for innovation.