Sir James Louis John Appleby (born 27 February 1955) is a British

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

who leads the National

Suicide Prevention Suicide prevention is a collection of efforts to reduce the risk of suicide. Suicide is often preventable, and the efforts to prevent it may occur at the individual, relationship, community, and society level. Suicide is a serious public health ...

Strategy for England and directs the

National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Homicide by People with Mental Illness, sometimes referred to as NCISH, based in Manchester University is commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership on behalf of NHS England, ...

. He runs the Centre for Mental Health and Safety at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

.Institute of Brain, Behaviour and Mental Health: Our staff
University of Manchester. Retrieved 24 July 2016

Career

After attending

Bathgate Academy Bathgate Academy is a mixed secondary school in Bathgate, West Lothian, Scotland, also serving the nearby town of Blackburn. History Established by the will of John Newland (a Jamaican-plantation slave owner) in 1799, the school was originally ...

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...

, Appleby studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

where he received a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in biomedical sciences in 1977, followed by an

MB ChB Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery ( la, Medicinae Baccalaureus, Baccalaureus Chirurgiae; abbreviated most commonly MBBS), is the primary medical degree awarded by medical schools in countries that follow the tradition of the United King ...

medical degree in 1980. He trained in psychiatry at the

Institute of Psychiatry The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) is a research institution dedicated to discovering what causes mental illness and diseases of the brain. In addition, its aim is to help identify new treatments for them and ways ...

and also in hospital medicine at

Maudsley Hospital The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the In ...

in London, then became

Member of the Royal College of Physicians Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom (MRCP(UK)) is a postgraduate medical diploma in the United Kingdom (UK). The examinations are run by the Federation of the Medical Royal Colleges – the Royal College of Phys ...

(MRCP) in 1983 and

Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych) is a postnominal qualification awarded to physicians who have completed the prescribed training requirements and membership examinations mandated by the Royal College of Psychiatrists. MRCPsyc ...

(MRCPsych) in 1986. He was awarded an MD higher degree in 1995. Appleby was elected

Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (RCPE) is a medical royal college in Scotland. It is one of three organisations that sets the specialty training standards for physicians in the United Kingdom. It was established by Royal charter ...

(FRCPEd) in 1995, a

Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists The Royal College of Psychiatrists is the main professional organisation of psychiatrists in the United Kingdom, and is responsible for representing psychiatrists, for psychiatric research and for providing public information about mental healt ...

(FRCPsych) in 1996, and

Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

(FRCP) in 2008. Appleby was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the

2006 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2006 in some Commonwealth realms were announced (on 31 December 2005) in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Grenada, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, and Saint Christopher and Nevis to cel ...

for services to Medicine. Appleby was the UK Government's first National Director for Mental Health ('mental health tsar') from 2000 to 2010, then the first National Clinical Director for Health and Criminal Justice from 2010 until 2014. He was also involved in the development of

Improving Access to Psychological Therapies Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), also known as talking therapies is a National Health Service (England) initiative to provide more psychotherapy to the general population. It was developed and introduced by the Labour Party as ...

.Richard Layard on happiness, CBT and Christianity
April 19, 2013. Interview by Jules Evans, Centre for the History of the Emotions at Queen Mary, University of London Activist

Pete Shaughnessy Peter Anthony Shaughnessy (14 September 1962 – 15 December 2002) was a British mental health activist and one of the founders of Mad Pride, a group of mental health activists who reclaimed terms such as "mad" and "nutter" from misuse, and c ...

and others in the mental health user/survivor movement reportedly found Appleby, in his role as mental health tsar, "elusive". Appleby is a non-executive director of the

Care Quality Commission The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England. I ...

. In February 2015 Appleby controversially announced on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that he had pulled out of giving a presentation to the

Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry. Lists of current ministries of justice Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia) * Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Just ...

after being told not to mention falling staff numbers when discussing the rising suicide rate in prisons; he was supported by then shadow justice secretary

Sadiq Khan Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's sof ...

. In December 2015 Appleby was appointed by the

General Medical Council The General Medical Council (GMC) is a public body that maintains the official register of medical practitioners within the United Kingdom. Its chief responsibility is to "protect, promote and maintain the health and safety of the public" by c ...

to improve how it deals with doctors who are vulnerable or at risk when investigated for fitness to practice medicine; in April 2016 he reported that the number of investigations by the GMC should be reduced in favour of local resolution and that investigations should be 'paused' if the root cause is a health problem requiring treatment. Appleby was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in the

2023 New Year Honours The 2023 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

for services to medicine and mental health.

Career

References

Further reading