Sir Louis Appleby | |
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| Born | (1955-02-27)27 February 1955 (age 70) |
| Occupation | Psychiatrist |
Sir James Louis John Appleby (born 27 February 1955) is a Britishpsychiatrist who leads the NationalSuicide Prevention Strategy for England and directs theNational Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness. He runs the Centre for Mental Health and Safety at theUniversity of Manchester.[1][2]
After attendingBathgate Academy inWest Lothian, Appleby studied at theUniversity of Edinburgh where he received aBSc in biomedical sciences in 1977, followed by anMB ChB medical degree in 1980. He trained in psychiatry at theInstitute of Psychiatry and also in hospital medicine atMaudsley Hospital in London,[1] then becameMember of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) in 1983 andMember of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych) in 1986. He was awarded anMD higher degree in 1995. Appleby was electedFellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (FRCPEd) in 1995, aFellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (FRCPsych) in 1996, andFellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London (FRCP) in 2008.[3] Appleby was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the2006 New Year Honours for services to Medicine.[4]
Appleby was the UK Government's first National Director for Mental Health ('mental health tsar') from 2000 to 2010, then the first National Clinical Director for Health and Criminal Justice from 2010 until 2014.[5] He was also involved in the development ofImproving Access to Psychological Therapies.[6] ActivistPete Shaughnessy and others in themental health user/survivor movement reportedly found Appleby, in his role as mental health tsar, "elusive".[7]
Appleby is a non-executive director of theCare Quality Commission.[8]
In February 2015 Appleby announced onTwitter that he had pulled out of giving a presentation to theMinistry of Justice after being told not to mention falling staff numbers when discussing the rising suicide rate in prisons; he was supported by then shadow justice secretarySadiq Khan.[9]
In December 2015 Appleby was appointed by theGeneral Medical Council to improve how it deals with doctors who are vulnerable or at risk when investigated for fitness to practice medicine; in April 2016 he reported that the number of investigations by the GMC should be reduced in favour of local resolution and that investigations should be 'paused' if the root cause is a health problem requiring treatment.[10][11]
Appleby wasknighted in the2023 New Year Honours for services to medicine and mental health.[12]
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