Dame Susan Mary Bailey, (born 29 August 1950) is a British psychiatrist and academic who specialises in children's mental health. Since 2004, she has been

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

of Child Mental Health at the University of Central Lancashire. From 2011 to 2014, she was President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Since January 2015, she has been Chair of the

Academy of Medical Royal Colleges The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) is the coordinating body for the United Kingdom and Ireland's 23 Medical Royal Colleges and Faculties. It ensures that patients are safely and properly cared for by setting standards for the way doc ...

Early life

Bailey was born on 29 August 1950 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England. She was educated at Hulme Grammar School for Girls, then a

direct grant A direct grant grammar school was a type of Selective school, selective secondary school in the United Kingdom that existed between 1945 and 1976. One quarter of the places in these schools were directly funded by central government, while the rem ...

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

, and at

Watford Grammar School for Girls Watford Grammar School for Girls (commonly abbreviated WGGS) is an academy for girls in Watford in Hertfordshire, UK. Despite its name, it is only a partially selective school, with 25% of entrants admitted on academic ability and 10% on music ...

, then a grammar school in

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

. She studied medicine 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 Univ ...

and graduated with Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MB ChB) degrees in 1973.

Medical career

Bailey became a

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. MRCPsy ...

(MRCPsych) in 1976 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (FRCPsych) in 1996. Since 1983, she has been a consultant child and adolescent

forensic psychiatrist Forensic psychiatry is a subspeciality of psychiatry and is related to criminology. It encompasses the interface between law and psychiatry. According to the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, it is defined as "a subspecialty of psychiat ...

at the Greater Manchester West Mental Health

NHS Foundation Trust A foundation trust is a semi-autonomous organisational unit within the National Health Service in England. They have a degree of independence from the Department of Health and Social Care (and, until the abolition of SHAs in 2013, their local st ...

. In 1993, she appeared as an

expert witness An expert witness, particularly in common law countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, is a person whose opinion by virtue of education, training, certification, skills or experience, is accepted by the judge as ...

in the James Bulger murder trial. She concluded that one of Bulger's killers, Jon Venables, knew the difference between right and wrong: information that led to them being convicted of murder. She thereafter remained Venables' psychiatrist through his adolescence. Between 2001 and 2014, Bailey held a number of senior positions in the Royal College of Psychiatrists. She was Chair of the Child and Adolescent Faculty from 2001 to 2005, and was

registrar A registrar is an official keeper of records made in a register. The term may refer to: Education * Registrar (education), an official in an academic institution who handles student records * Registrar of the University of Oxford, one of the se ...

from 2005 to 2010. From 30 June 2011 to 2014, she was President of the college. Since 1 January 2015, she has been Chair of the

. In 2002, Bailey was an

Honorary Fellow Honorary titles (professor, reader, lecturer) in academia may be conferred on persons in recognition of contributions by a non-employee or by an employee beyond regular duties. This practice primarily exists in the UK and Germany, as well as in m ...

at the University of Surrey. Since 2004, she has been

of Child Mental Health at the University of Central Lancashire and a

Senior Research Fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

at the

Honours

In the 2002 Queen's Birthday Honours, Bailey was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) "for services to Youth Justice". In the 2014

New Year Honours The New Year Honours is a part of the British honours system, with New Year's Day, 1 January, being marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of other Commonwealth realms also mark this ...

, she was promoted to

Dame Commander Commander ( it, Commendatore; french: Commandeur; german: Komtur; es, Comendador; pt, Comendador), or Knight Commander, is a title of honor prevalent in chivalric orders and fraternal orders. The title of Commander occurred in the medieval mil ...

of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) "for services to Psychiatry and for voluntary service to People with Mental Health Conditions".

Selected works

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Susan 1950 births Living people British child psychiatrists People in health professions from Manchester People educated at Oldham Hulme Grammar School People educated at Watford Grammar School for Girls Alumni of the University of Manchester Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Academics of the University of Central Lancashire Academics of the University of Surrey Academics of the University of Manchester British women psychiatrists