UKPTS 2026

“The Human Crises in Public Service Delivery”
Professor Derek Tracy (Chief Medical Officer, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust)
Professor Tracy is the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Director for Psychological Therapies at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and deputy Chair of the Cavendish Square Group of London CMOs. Derek is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, and an honorary Professor at Brunel Medical School. His PhD was in policy and cultural aspects of creating better integrated care systems, and he has a particular interest in the measurement of clinical effectiveness in large-scale healthcare organisations and cultural factors that support staff. He has published over 150 peer reviewed articles, and other research interests include New Psychoactive Substances (‘legal highs’). Derek is a member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs that advises the UK Home Office on drug harms. He is a deputy editor at the British Journal of Psychiatry, writing its Kaleidoscope and Highlights columns. Derek is an editor of the leading UK textbook on the coroner’s court, and the forthcoming RCPsych book Research Methods in Mental Health. At the Royal College of Psychiatrists Derek is an executive member of the occupational psychiatry special interest group. In 2020 he was co-opted as one of the medical leads to design and run the mental health team at the London Nightingale pandemic hospital, work that was awarded the 2021 Royal College of Psychiatrist’s “Team of the Year”. Other notable awards include the 2024 RCPsych President’s Medal, the 2019 RCPsych “Communicator of the Year” award, and the 2015 King’s College London Teaching Excellence Award.

“Occupational trauma and moral injury amongst the public sector workforce”
Professor Neil Greenberg (Professor of Defence Mental Health & President of the Society of Occupational Medicine)
Professor Greenberg is a consultant academic, occupational and forensic psychiatrist based at King’s College London. He is the current President of the Society of Occupational Medicine. Neil served in the United Kingdom Armed Forces for more than 23 years and has deployed, as a psychiatrist and researcher, to a number of hostile environments including Afghanistan and Iraq. He is a past chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP) Special Interest Group in Occupational Psychiatry and led the World Psychiatric Association position statement on mental health in the workplace. Neil has published more than 400 scientific papers and book chapters and has been the Secretary of the European Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the President of the UK Psychological Trauma Society and Specialist Advisor to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee. During the COVID19 pandemic, Neil worked closely with various government organisations and published widely on psychological support for healthcare, and other key workers. As well as running March on Stress Ltd, a psychological health consultancy, Neil is a trustee with the Faculty of Occupational Medicine. In 2023 he was awarded a prestigious honorary Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland.

“The Power of Inclusion”
Samantha Uwadiae (King’s College Hospital & the Shelford Group)
Research is unequivocal: organisations that harness diversity are more innovative, make better decisions and are more productive. Yet with this knowledge many workplaces still fail to unlock the full power of including diverse voices and perspectives, leading to group think, crowded same voices and silent rooms to a new way of working. Critical perspectives never make it to the table. This session is built around one catalytic question: Whose voice is missing, and what will it take to bring them in? Drawing on the speaker’s lived experience, behavioural science and evidence-based insight, this workshop exposes the hidden dynamics that suppresses contribution and limit organisational potential. Participants will leave this workshop with practical tips to surface and enhance often overlooked voices, strengthen psychological safety and embed inclusion into everyday decision-making and practice. Samantha Uwadiae is a nationally recognised thought leader in Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, driving transformational change across healthcare and education. She serves as Associate Director of EDI at King’s College Hospital, Chair of the EDI Specialist Shelford Group, and Board Trustee & Chair of People and Culture for the Inspire Partnership — a leading multi-academy trust of 10 schools committed to social equity and community empowerment. With over a decade of influence and an MSc in Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology, Samantha blends behavioural science, strategic intelligence and courageous leadership to create cultures of transformation that enable people to thrive, elevate and realise their full potential. Renowned for her clarity, challenge and humanity, she inspires organisations to think boldly, act intentionally and build environments where inclusion drives lasting impact.

“Moral Injury, Trauma and Resilience in the Policing Mind: Why how we think matters”
Dr Jessica Miller (University of Cambridge & Cambridge Resilient Research)
Dr Jess Miller is a neuropsychologist and Principal Investigator at the University of Cambridge (as well as being Director of Cambridge Resilient Research Ltd, Non-Executive Director of Surfwell, and a Trustee of the new charity Blue Light Bees) and has worked with the police for over 20 years. Her endeavours support all ranks and roles, ranging from those taking 999 calls and responding to terror attacks, to senior leaders grappling with misconduct investigations. Jess brings an understanding of the human brain to other frontline services too (such as the RNLI and the military) and continues to consult with The Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales on supporting the Emergency Response Sector. Jess speaks on and trains in Moral Injury and Trauma Impact with a focus on introducing neuropsychological and social research evidence into everyday operational practice for individuals, teams and leaders. Her passion is providing a common language for the unspoken, uncomfortable truths of how life on the front line can really feel and practical advice for those who serve and their families. She is also author of The Policing Mind: Developing Trauma Resilience for a New Era and forthcoming book Mindful Soldier: Building Resilience to Overcome Life’s Challenges with Ash Alexander-Cooper, out in January 2026. Her session will ask why moral injury is something that we need to consider more proactively in UK policing, how we can do this and what happens if we don’t. We will explore what the research reveals about the relationship between trauma and moral injury in Emergency Response and how this manifests in our bodies, brains and behaviour.

“Systemic Pressures, Disenfranchised Trauma and Moral Injury – working with prisoner suicide and self-harm”
Cllr Dr Sara Hyde (Fabian Society)
Cllr Dr Sara Hyde completed her PhD in July 2025: ‘Physically efficient… psychologically detached’, looking at the impacts on healthcare staff of prisoner suicide and self-harm. Prior to this she worked for a decade in frontline voluntary sector roles in and after prison, as a counsellor, group work facilitator and resettlement mentor. She has co-authored a chapter on Prisons and Suicide for the forthcoming Prisons Handbook and is completing a journal article on the deleterious impacts of coroners’ courts on healthcare staff called to them following prisoner suicide. She is Fabian Society Chair and the Executive Member for Health and Social Care at Islington Council.

“Post-incident support: What should we be doing and what shouldn’t we be doing?”
Professor Jo Billings (University College London)
Professor Billings is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Psychological Trauma and Workplace Mental Health at University College London. Jo has more than 20 years experience of working across the NHS, Government, emergency services and academic sectors. Her clinical and research work centres around understanding, preventing, and treating occupational trauma. She is currently leading a large scale programme of research on post incident support in high-risk occupational settings, as well as exploring interventions to address vicarious trauma and moral injury in different front line public sector settings. She will present on a programme of research into post-incident support in high-risk public sector settings, including a systematic review of 80 research studies and 11 clinical practice guidelines, 46 interviews with providers and recipients of post-incident support, and an expert Delphi consensus study, seeking to establish best practice principles in post-incident support.

“Preventing and Addressing Moral Injury in Prisons: CARE Study”
Dr Victoria Williamson (University of Bath & King’s College London)
Dr Danielle Lamb (University College London)
Dr Victoria Williamson specialises in moral injury and psychological recovery after traumatic events. As President of the UK Psychological Trauma Society (UKPTS), she leads efforts to improve awareness, research, and clinical responses to psychological trauma across sectors, including healthcare, the military, first responders, prison staff and media workers. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and collaborates with organisations including NATO and the NHS to translate health research into practical, accessible guidance for professionals and the public. Dr Danielle Lamb is a Senior Research Fellow at University College London (UCL), where her research focuses on workforce wellbeing, organisational culture, and the implementation of evidence-based improvements in health and social care settings. Her work combines qualitative and quantitative methods to understand how working conditions influence staff experiences and service quality, with a particular interest in interventions that support psychological safety, retention, and inclusive team environments. Dr Lamb has led and collaborated on numerous nationally funded research projects, published widely in leading peer-reviewed journals, and advises healthcare leaders and policymakers on strategies to improve staff wellbeing. She is also committed to supporting early-career researchers and advancing collaborative, practice-focused research across disciplines. Drs Williamson and Lamb will discuss the codesign of a support programme to prevent and mitigate moral injury amongst prison staff across the UK.  The CARE Study uses a mixed method approach to explore the experience and impact of moral injury amongst prison staff and staff support needs staff.

“The Compassion Project: Intervening at Multiple Levels of the System to Reduce Empathy-Based Stress and Enhance Compassionate Care on CAMHS Wards”
Dr Lucy Maddox (University of Bath)
Dr Maddox is an NIHR clinical academic fellow based at the University of Bath. Having worked as a clinical psychologist on a number of child and adolescent wards, in London and the South West, she became interested in staff empathy-based stress (an umbrella term which encompasses burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary trauma) and how this could impact on compassionate care for young people. The Compassion Project builds on previous research identifying that staff need to feel cared for, in order to care for others. The Compassion Project aims to develop a new intervention to reduce empathy-based stress and enhance compassionate care in CAMHS wards, by boosting individual knowledge and coping skills whilst also influencing management practices. It has been co-designed with CAMHS ward staff and young people and parents/carers who have experience of inpatient CAMHS care. Themes in this talk will include intervention development, thinking about staff wellbeing using multiple systemic levels, and the importance of co-design with stakeholders. Lucy is also a Consultant clinical psychologist & creative communicator, sharing psychology ideas through writing and podcasting. She has special interests and experience in child and adolescent mental health and workplace wellbeing and is the author of Blueprint: How Our Childhood Makes Us Who We Are, What is Mental Health? and A Year To Change Your Mind.

“A stepped care intervention model of evidence-based interventions for the management of posttraumatic stress in the Belgian Police”
Nils Rentmeesters (KU Leuven & Knowledge Centre for Traumatic Stress, Belgium)
Nils is a clinical psychologist, cognitive behavioural psychotherapist, and holds a postgraduate degree in clinical psychodiagnostics. He has worked with the Belgian Federal Police since 2012 where he is responsible for the Knowledge Centre for Traumatic Stress. He manages the development and implementation of a novel intervention model for critical incidents, posttraumatic symptoms and PTSD in the Belgian Police. Nils is also conducting research at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of KU Leuven on the prevention, development and treatment of posttraumatic symptoms and PTSD in police officers. Police officers are regularly exposed to potentially traumatic events, placing them at heightened risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In Belgium, the estimated point prevalence of PTSD among police officers is 7.4% – notably higher than in the general population. This underscores the urgent need for a structured, evidence-based approach to managing traumatic stress within police organizations. In this presentation, we introduce a newly developed organisational strategy tailored to the Belgian police context. Drawing on scientific literature, international best practices, and extensive input from expert panels and working groups, we designed a comprehensive stepped care intervention model. This model integrates prevention, early detection, and treatment of posttraumatic stress through scalable, evidence-based interventions. We will outline the development process, present the key components of the model, and discuss its potential as a sustainable and effective framework for supporting police mental health. The model’s implementation and evaluation are currently underway, with the aim of informing broader policy and practice in trauma-informed policing.