Welcome and introduction

Maudsley Learning at South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) and the Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust are both leading centres of mental health expertise, research and education. At this time of need we want to share our expertise to support individuals, organisations and societies across the world.

Meet the team

In addition to Chris, Gareth, Carolyn and Sean, who are introduced on the course overview, we are grateful to our subject matter experts who provide content throughout the course.

• Professor Sir Simon Wessely, Professor of Psychological Medicine, King’s College London, and Consultant Psychiatrist, SLaM
• Dr Jo Stubley, Consultant Psychiatrist in Psychotherapy and Lead of the Adult Tavistock Trauma Service, Tavistock & Portman NHS FT
• Professor Neil Greenberg, Professor of Defence Mental Health, King’s College London
• Dr Robyn Vesey, Organisational Consultant, Tavistock Consulting, Tavistock & Portman NHS FT
• Dr Sridhar Venkatapuram, Senior Lecturer in Global Health and Philosophy at the Global Health Institute, King’s College London
• Dr Ruth Cairns, Consultant Psychiatrist in Mental Health of Older Adults at SLaM and King’s College Hospital
• Dr Mary Docherty, Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist at SLaM and King’s College Hospital
• Professor Stephani Hatch, Professor of Sociology and Epidemiology, King’s College London
• Dr Shubulade Smith CBE, Consultant Psychiatrist and Clinical Director for Forensic Services, SLaM
• Dr Marilia Calcia, Consultant Liaison Psychiatrist, Diabetes and Psychiatry team, SLaM and King’s College Hospital
• Dr Jonathan Rogers, Wellcome Trust Clinical Fellow, Division of Psychiatry, UCL
• Dr Geraldine Strathdee CBE OBE, Consultant Psychiatrist and ex National Clinical Director for Mental Health, NHSE

With notable contribution from Dr Owen O’Sullivan, Fellow in Medical Education, Maudsley Simulation at SLaM, to development of course proposal and learning plan.

Why is this course important right now?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are all experiencing massive changes in how we live and interact with one another. Vital international efforts to contain coronavirus have radically transformed our personal and professional lives. Many of us work in front-line services. Many of us are caring for those who are vulnerable. Some of us will be vulnerable ourselves.

It is difficult to imagine a time where there was as much anxiety and uncertainty for individuals and societies about what the future may hold. While the virus itself is unlikely to directly affect us all, most will experience varying levels of psychological distress as a result. There is undoubtedly a significant psychological impact associated with COVID-19.

We feel strongly about the need to understand and share knowledge about the mental health and psychological impact of COVID-19 and help people to cope with its challenges. We remain at the early stages of understanding the impact, with new lessons and research emerging almost daily. This course aims to bring together this emerging knowledge, with relevant information from existing research and evidence.

The course examines the direct and indirect impact of COVID-19, strategies and steps that we can take, and possible future developments at the individual, group and organisational level. We hope to demonstrate the importance of understanding not only our own or other people’s experiences, but those of particular groups and systems. We believe that this understanding can help us better manage the impact of COVID-19 collectively and collaboratively.

As this is such a rapidly evolving situation we would like to mention here that the content of this course is accurate and up to date at the time of writing, while we acknowledge that this can change quickly.