Dr Gillian Mezey

Gender: Female

I gained my MBBS degree at The Royal London Hospital in 1980.  I trained in general psychiatry and then in forensic psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital and the Institute of Psychiatry. I was appointed as consultant and senior lecturer in Forensic Psychiatry at Springfield Hospital and St Georges University of London in 1991. I was the training programme director on the forensic psychiatry scheme for 12 years. In 2015 I was given a Chair in Forensic Psychiatry in August 2015. I have recently retired from full time NHS work, however I am still employed by St Georges University, on a part time basis, to allow me to continue my research and teaching activities and I have retained an honorary consultant role in St Georges and South West London NHS Mental Health Trust. I have remained involved in a new peer mentoring scheme for our forensic psychiatry patients, to assist in their recovery.

My clinical work over the past thirty years has involved assessing and treating individuals with serious mental illness who have commit violent crime. This involved managing an inpatient caseload, as well as conducting assessments in prisons, the community and other health care settings and giving evidence as an expert witness in Court. As a clinical academic the main focus of my work over the years has been researching the effects of violent and sexual victimisation. More recently I have been looking at experiences of stigma, discrimination and social exclusion by people with mental health problems. I have published extensively on aspects of my work, in particular psychological trauma, effects of domestic violence and rape and social exclusion in mental health care. I continue to work as an expert witness in criminal and civil cases.