Speaker Biographies: Day 1

Welcome and scene-setting; a moment to reflect

Professor John Gibson PhD BDS MB ChB FRCP(Glasg) FDS(OM)RCPS(Glasg) FFDRCS(Irel)

John is CEO of The Canmore Trust (SC051511) and also Emeritus Professor of Oral Medicine in the University of Aberdeen and Honorary Consultant in Oral Medicine to the UK Army.  He lectures extensively on wellbeing and suicide reduction.

Learning to learn: Lessons from the global suicide community

Professor Rory O’Connor PhD

Rory completed his PhD at Queen's University Belfast in 1997 and then moved to Scotland where he has been ever since.  He joined the University of Glasgow in July 2013 where he is Professor of Health Psychology, Director of the Suicidal Behaviour Research Laboratory and head of the Mental Health and Wellbeing group there.  He is a registered health psychologist who is broadly interested in self-regulation processes and health outcomes.  He is President of the International Association for Suicide Prevention and Past President of the International Academy for Suicide Research.  In 2014 he was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2022.  He also serves on the Scientific Review Board of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, is Joint Chief-Editor of Archives of Suicide Research, an Associate Editor of Suicide and Life-Threatening Behaviour and also serves on the editorial board of Crisis.

He is recipient of a number of awards, most recently of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's 2023 Research Award and the BPS 2022 Popular Science Book Award for When It Is Darkest. Why People Die By Suicide & What We Can Do To Prevent It. He has been named in Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers 2022 list for individuals who "have published multiple highly cited papers, ranking in the top 1% by citations for field and year over the last decade".  He is also Co-Chair of the Academic Advisory Group to the Scottish Government's National Suicide Prevention Leadership Group. He is also a Trustee of two mental health charities: MQ Mental Health Research (as well as being a member of MQ's Science Council) and the suicide prevention charity James' Place.

The (highs and) lows of Medicine

Dr Ananta Dave MBBS MD DNB FRCPsych MMedEth

Ananta is the Chief Medical Officer of the Black Country Integrated Care Board and was previously the Medical Director and a Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Before this, she gained management experience including several years as Clinical Director for Quality and Safety and interim clinical director for child and adolescent mental health services, at Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust. 

She was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of The Royal College of Psychiatrists, its highest honour, in 2023.

Ananta is Presidential Lead for retention and wellbeing at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, ex-President of British Indian Psychiatric Association, holds a Masters degree in Psychological Medicine and a Masters in Medical Ethics and Law, and is also an experienced clinician and medical educator who has established and led new services.  Ananta completed a prestigious Churchill Fellowship in 2019, and her report is entitled: “Preventing doctors from dying by suicide - constructing cross-organisational collaboration”.

Why is Veterinary Medicine struggling?

Dr Rosie Allister, BSc Hons, BVSc, MSc, PhD, MRCVS

Dr Rosie Allister has received the British Veterinary Association Chiron Award and Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Impact Award for work on veterinary mental health. Rosie is the Consultant Manager for Vetlife Helpline, a 24-hour support service for everyone in the UK veterinary community. She also coordinates Vetlife’s suicide postvention response for veterinary workplaces. Her research, based at the University of Edinburgh, looks at veterinary professionals’ mental health, wellbeing in transitions, and suicide prevention and postvention. She has written and spoken extensively about veterinary mental health in the UK and internationally. She has volunteered as a listening volunteer with Samaritans for 20 years, is a member of the Samaritans Scotland Committee, and the Academic Advisory Group for Scottish Government for suicide prevention and for self-harm.  She advises a number of national organisations on mental health and suicide prevention.

Is something rotten in the state of Dentistry?

Professor Ian Mills PhD, BDS, FFGDP(UK), FDSRCPS(Glasg), FHEA, MJDFRCS(Eng), Dip Imp Dent RCS(Eng)

Ian is a dental surgeon with over 30 years’ experience across a wide range of dental disciplines including general dental practice, secondary care, education and research. He is a partner at Torrington Dental Practice, Devon, Associate Professor of Primary Care Dentistry and Past Dean of the Faculty of General Dental Practice (UK). Ian has represented the dental profession on various local, regional and national boards and committees, including NHS England Advisory Board for Dental System Reform, CQC Dental Reference Group, Advisory Board for Delivering Joint Committee for Postgraduate Training in Dentistry, General Practice Committee of BDA, Advisory Board for Sedation Training in Dentistry, SDCEP Advisory group on AGPs, FGDP(UK) COVID Guidelines Committee. Ian was previously Chair of the Examinations Committee at FGDP(UK) and an examiner for the Fellowship Assessment at FGDP(UK). He was previously on the Trustee Board of both the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the College of General Dentistry.

Starting to find answers; R;pple

Ms Alice Hendy MBE

After graduating from university, Alice got a job as a cashier for Barclays. She quickly worked her way up into management roles at the national bank before applying to be its cybersecurity manager – a position she was offered and held for some years.  She is now cyber culture manager at multinational audit giant Deloitte.

Alice founded the charity R;pple in 2021, months after she had lost her brother Josh to suicide. R;pple’s main service is a web browser extension that intercepts harmful online searches relating to suicide and self-harm. R;pple has grown rapidly in its three years and Alice was presented with the MBE in 2024 for her work setting it up.

Q&A

Ms Roz McMullan

A retired Consultant Orthodontist, Roz is presently Chair, Northern Ireland (NI) Council, British Dental Association (BDA), Chair, Probing Stress in Dentistry NI and a co-chair, DISCREET NI. She is a Past President of the BDA, past co-chair of Mental Wellness in Dentistry Working Group (UK) and previously a member of a Working Group developing wellness and mental health resources for the FDI. Roz was part of the group which produced the Support for Dental Teams resource, www.supportfordentalteams.org.  She is a member of MINDSET UK and was part of the working group which published the recent Society of Occupational Medicine Suicide Postvention Guidelines.

Compassionate Regulation

Ms Theresa Thorp, Executive Director of Regulation, General Dental Council

Theresa joined the General Dental Council (GDC) in September 2023 as Executive Director, Regulation. Theresa is a Solicitor-Advocate (Criminal), with over 15 years’ experience advising and presenting in the public and private spheres. She is a qualified Advocate with rights of appearance in the South African High Courts and a Solicitor-Advocate in England and Wales.

A former Crown Advocate specialising in prosecuting child abuse and serious sexual offences, she joined the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) in 2015 and thereafter the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in 2017 where she held several positions, most recently Director, Regulation Enforcement & Governance.

Ms Lizzie Lockett, CEO, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons

Lizzie is the CEO of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the regulatory body for veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses in the UK. With over 63,000 members, the RCVS sets, upholds, and advances veterinary standards.  Lizzie joined the RCVS in 2005 as Head of Communications, bringing with her 13 years' experience working in marketing communications both in the UK and across Europe. She later became RCVS Director of Strategic Communications. In 2014, Lizzie set up the Mind Matters Initiative (MMI), to make a difference to the mental health and wellbeing of members of the veterinary team. Lizzie was appointed CEO in 2017.

Lizzie is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and holds a degree in English from St John’s College, Oxford.  She sits on the Communications and Fundraising Committee of the Mental Health Foundation, is a Director of the Veterinary Policy Research Foundation, sits on the Australian Health Practitioner Regulatory Association’s Minimising Practitioner Distress Expert Advisory Group, and is a Trustee of RCVS Knowledge.

Dr Andrew Hoyle, Assistant Director for Decisions, Fitness to Practise Directorate, General Medical Council

Andrew is a GP by background and remains registered with a licence to practise.  He is also a practising barrister.

Andrew joined the General Medical Council in May 2022, having previously been head of medico-legal services for part of the government, where he spent much time advising healthcare professionals who were involved in clinical negligence claims, inquests and regulatory matters.  Prior to his full-time appointment to the GMC, he sat as a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) tribunal member and a Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board examiner.

Andrew’s team of Case Examiners are the lay and medical statutory decision makers who determine, at the final stages of the GMC processes, whether a case closes or goes forward to a fitness to practise hearing at the MPTS.

Dr Sam Donohue, Assistant Director for National and Regional Outreach, Nursing & Midwifery Council

Sam is an Assistant Director at the NMC with a portfolio that includes leading the national and regional outreach team for the NMC, the Employer Link Service. This team work closely with employers and professional and system/national regulators supporting professionals in practice. Sam works closely with colleagues within the professional practice directorate and within the wider NMC functions.

Sam was previously Deputy Chief Nurse at an acute NHS Trust with a portfolio including quality improvement, patient experience, workforce, education and research. Sam has specialised in workforce design, developing new roles and pathways into nursing. This included developing programmes for assistant practitioners, apprentices and cadets as well as being the Health Education England national lead for the development of the nursing associate role and the nurse apprenticeship pathway.

Sam has recently completed her professional doctorate in nursing. Her doctoral research explored professional enjoyment in nursing and the factors that enhance and diminish enjoyment. This research has identified the impact and importance of enjoyment on nurses themselves, the teams and people they work with and their intention to remain in the profession.  Sam is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey.  Now the doctoral study is complete Sam fully intends to remind her family who their wife/mother is and enjoy time with them, family and friends!

Nursing – caring and being cared for?

Professor Emma Wadey PhD FQNI FAAN RN(MH)

Emma is Chief Nursing Officer, Director of Infection, Prevention & Control, and Director of Safeguarding at Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, and a Visiting Professor in the University of Surrey. She was previously Deputy director of mental health nursing, NHS England.  She is a mental health nurse with more than 25 years’ experience across a wide range of health, emergency care and criminal justice settings. She started her nursing career in 1996 and has maintained clinical practice throughout her career. Enthusiastic about the provision and transformation of effective and recovery based mental health services, she has led the development of new and innovative services for the most vulnerable in society. During the pandemic, Emma was the clinical lead for the National Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism COVID-19 Response Cell, providing expert clinical oversight. She is committed to social justice and to improving patient care, especially for those from marginalised groups.

Emma has extensive strategic and technical knowledge and experience and is particularly skilled in the development of national policy, translating research into practice and vice versa. During her career she has specialised in the prevention of suicide and promotion of health and well-being. This includes developing the Stay Alive app and more recently has led work nationally to prevent suicide in healthcare staff, commissioning research and developing suicide prevention and postvention toolkits.  She also developed and implemented the professional nurse advocate programme across England, offering 8,000 master’s-level training places. This clinical and professional leadership programme has transformed nursing practice ensuring all nursing staff have access to restorative clinical supervision and are engaged in quality improvement.

The Jamie Newlands Memorial Lecture: Loss into Legacy

Ms Fiona Drouet MBE

Fiona is the founder and CEO of the Scottish charity, EmilyTest. At 18 years of age, Fiona’s daughter Emily died by suicide after being subjected to a relentless campaign of physical, psychological and sexual abuse by a fellow student while living and studying at university.  Emily’s tragic death was the result of a series of preventable failures.

Since its inception, EmilyTest has been successfully campaigning to raise awareness of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and stimulate change in policy, professional practice, intervention and support in Scottish education. Working closely with the Scottish Government, Universities, Colleges, Police Scotland, UCU and the third sector, Fiona continues to guide the sector towards safer campuses for all students to live, work and study.   EmilyTest has developed an evidence-based GBV Charter for Colleges and Universities. This is the first Charter of its kind, intended to serve as a key driver in encouraging institutions to continually strive for excellence in the field of GBV prevention and intervention.  Fiona was awarded the MBE for her work in this area.