Crisis care inquiry panel

Between Autumn 2010 and Summer 2011, Mind’s independent inquiry heard evidence from 400 service users and professionals in relation to acute mental healthcare in England and Wales.

The panel

Paul Grey – Chair
A pastor and social entrepreneur, Paul’s experiences within the mental health system have given him first-hand knowledge of the issues that are relevant to service users today. He is a co founder of I and I (Inspire and Influence) National black service user movement and his innovative ideas ensure that people's lives are transformed by age-old principles like love, joy and peace.

Helen Bennett
Helen is currently the Divisional Nurse for Mental Health at Cardiff & Vale University Health Board and chairs the All Wales Senior Nurse Advisory Group for Mental Health. She has a keen interest in law and ethics, and service user rights, and in her extensive NHS career has been instrumental in bringing about improvements in the quality of care and in legal rights.

Jayasree Kalathil
Jayasree is a researcher and writer and a former user of mental health services. She leads Survivor Research, a virtual collection of individuals interested in promoting user-led perspectives from marginalised communities in the understanding of mental health issues. Jayasree is currently a co-chair of the Social Perspectives Network and the editor of Open Mind.

Martyn Cooper
Martyn heads the Advocacy and Rights-Based Services department at City & Hackney Mind which has services in both acute and forensic hospitals. His academic background is in psychology and counselling and he previously worked on acute wards, in mental health supported housing and as a mental health advocate on acute and forensic mental health wards and in the community.

Rachel Perkins
Rachel was formerly Director of Quality Assurance and User Experience at South West London and St. George’s Mental Health NHS Trust. Her background is in clinical psychology and she is also a long term user of mental health services. She has pioneered UK developments in accessing employment and education, led a review on employment for the Government, and in 2010 she was awarded an OBE and voted Mind Champion of the Year.

Sashi Sashidharan
Sashi set up one of the first Home Treatment services teams in the country and was instrumental in the national development of Home Treatment. He has long been actively involved in research, service reform and campaigns to improve community mental health services and eliminate ethnic inequalities in mental health services. He led the development of the first national BME mental health strategy in England and is now a consultant psychiatrist in Scotland.