Professor of Mental Health Nursing appointed
Alan Simpson has been appointed Professor of Mental Health Nursing. This Professorship is a new joint position between the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care (NMPC), the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) and South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, as part of a shared vision to deliver world-leading mental health nursing through outstanding research, education and clinical expertise. Professor Simpson will be in post from early February 2019.
As Professor of Mental Health Nursing, Alan will be responsible for developing and leading a sustained programme of externally funded world-leading research, directly relevant to transforming mental health care through mental health nursing. He will also develop and deliver educational programmes in topics related to mental health nursing and contribute to teaching and play a leading role in developing clinical academic careers for mental health nurses.
Alan joins King’s from City, University of London, where he led the Centre for Mental Health Research, which investigates how best to deliver and improve mental health care and mental health nursing.
Professor Alan Simpson, Professor of Mental Health Nursing, said: 'I am very excited about joining King’s College London and look forward to working alongside leading researchers, academics, and health service staff, service users and carers to develop and lead high quality research with the aim of improving the delivery and experience of mental health nursing and mental healthcare. I will build on my research of the last 20 years while looking for new ideas and opportunities for collaboration. I can’t wait to get started.'
He recently completed two cross-national studies investigating the facilitators and barriers to delivering recovery-focused care planning and coordination in community and inpatient mental health settings in England and Wales. He was also a co-investigator on the successful SafeWards trial in which he facilitated collaboration with service users and carers throughout the five year study.
Alan is a registered mental health nurse researcher and has previously worked in the NHS in Sussex and Somerset and at the Universities of Sussex and Brighton and St George's Hospital Medical School, University of London.
Professor Norman, Executive Dean of the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care said: ‘I am delighted Alan will be joining our Faculty in this collaborative appointment with the IoPPN and SLaM. Alan’s combined clinical and academic expertise is a great addition to our Faculty, where we believe there is a specialist role for the mental health nurse, educator and researcher to deliver quality care for patients and their families.’
Professor Craig Morgan, Head of the Health Services & Population Research Department at IoPPN, said: 'We are delighted to welcome Alan to King’s and SLaM. Alan is the foremost mental health nursing academic in the UK, with an outstanding track record of research, education, and leadership in the field. He will help to re-establish King’s as a world-class clinical-academic setting for research in mental health nursing.'
Notes to editors
The Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care at King's College London
The Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care at King's College London is an internationally renowned centre for the delivery of cutting-edge education, training and research. We are ranked 1st in the UK and 2nd in the world for Nursing*. The Faculty is the direct descendant of the world’s first school of nursing - the Nightingale Training School - established in 1860 by Florence herself, at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. Located in the heart of London, along with our NHS partners we make up King’s Health Partners, one of the UK’s Academic Health Sciences Centres.
The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London
The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London is the premier centre for mental health and related neurosciences research in Europe. It produces more highly cited publications in psychiatry and mental health than any other university in the world (Scopus, 2016), with 12 of the most highly cited scientists in this field. World-leading research from the IoPPN has made, and continues to make, an impact on how we understand, prevent and treat mental illness and other conditions that affect the brain. www.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn
South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust provides the widest range of NHS mental health services in the UK.
We also provide substance misuse services for people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol. Our 4,600 staff serve a local population of 1.3 million people. We offer more than 230 services including inpatient wards, outpatient and community services. We provide inpatient care for approximately 3,900 people each year and we treat more than 67,000 patients in the community in Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham and Croydon.
As well as serving the communities of south London, we provide more than 20 specialist services for children and adults across the UK including perinatal services, eating disorders, psychosis and autism.
*Shanghai Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2018