Who we are

There are many members of staff at the Darwin Centre who together form a multi-disciplinary team (MDT), ensuring you receive the best care and treatment possible. We realise some of the roles of staff here will be unfamiliar to you, so here is a brief overview.

Consultant psychiatrist: The consultant has overall responsibility for your care and will make decisions about your care/treatment with you, your family and other professionals.

Ward doctor: The ward doctors are fully qualified and work alongside the consultant and MDT members. They are responsible for looking after your physical health, such as taking ECGs and blood tests, etc, as well as monitoring your mental well-being. 
 
Clinical psychologist: One role of the psychologist is to provide psychological assessment and therapy: this means spending time getting to know you, in order to try and understand how your difficulties have developed and what may be helpful.

Assistant psychologist: Our assistant psychologist supports the clinical psychologist in providing support to young people through therapy, in particular running our DBT group.

Ward manager and clinical nurse specialist: The ward manager is responsible for the overall management of the Darwin Centre in consultation with senior colleagues. The clinical nurse specialist is a senior nurse on the ward who leads the clinical work for the nursing team and supports the ward manager with the management of the ward.

Nursing team: The nursing team consists of nurses and healthcare assistants, who together form the biggest staff group at the Darwin Centre. They provide much of the day-to-day care for you, and it is this team who you have most contact with.

Family therapist: The family therapist will support you and your family by offering family therapy (if appropriate), often known as systemic psychotherapy.

Teachers: The teaching staff are committed to reengaging you with your education and keeping you up to date with your mainstream schoolwork as far as possible.

Occupational Therapist (OT): The OT will work with you if your level of functioning in activities of daily living (eg, self-care, sensory regulation) has become reduced.

Research assistant: The research assistant is involved in implementing and collecting information and data that enables us to monitor and evaluate the unit. They also work on research projects relevant to adolescent mental health.

Head of Patient and Parent Involvement (HOPPI): The HOPPI seeks constant feedback on parent/carer and patient experience, to give you a voice and to help the service develop.

Administrative team: The administrative team play a pivotal role in helping the effective and smooth running of the service. 

Advocate: The advocate will listen to the views being expressed by all young people to make sure that important issues are raised with the staff team at the Darwin.

Social worker: Our social worker works with our young people in thinking about transitions, in particular discharge planning and what additional support might help at home for both the young person and parent/carer.

Housekeeper: Our housekeeper oversees maintenance issues on the ward, as well as ordering and organising the provision of meals and laundry.