Derek Tracy is the Medical Director of West London NHS Trust. He was previously the Clinical Director of a nationally innovative integrated directorate of adult social care, mental and physical health services in South East London. His clinical work has generally been in crisis care: his team produced some of the first qualitative and patient-centred research on Home Treatment Teams and designed and ran an award-winning digitised patient reported outcome measurement (PROM) programme that has been profiled by NHS England.
Derek is a Senior Lecturer at King’s and University College London. He has published over one hundred peer-reviewed scientific papers and fifteen book chapters. His research interests include New Psychoactive Substances (‘legal highs’) and Derek is a member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs that advises the Home Office on drug harms.
At the Royal College of Psychiatrists Derek is an elected member of the executives of the academic, evolutionary psychiatry, and occupational health faculties. With regards to the last of these, he has a particular interest in NHS staff well-being; in 2020 he was co-opted as one of the medical leads to design and run the mental health team at the London Nightingale hospital, providing on-site support to ITU staff during the pandemic. He is the editor for public engagement at the British Journal of Psychiatry, writing its Kaleidoscope and Highlights columns, and running its social media output and trainee-engagement programme.
Derek is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, the Royal Society of Arts, and the Royal College of Psychiatrists; he was a Founding Fellow of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management. In 2015 he was awarded the Institute of Psychiatry’s Teaching Excellence Award, and in 2019 the Royal College of Psychiatrist’s “Communicator of the Year” award. He likes enthusiastic people, running, and the Stone Roses; he hates whinging, butter, and cats.
Zoe Hunter and Derek Tracy summarise a new RCT on social recovery therapy out today in the British Journal of Psychiatry, which investigates how to prevent and treat social disability in young people with emerging severe mental illness.
Charlie Lynch and Derek Tracy review a study on childhood intellectual disability and parents’ wellbeing, which integrates social, psychological and genetic influences.
Alice Grishkov and Derek Tracy explore a recent paper, which finds that generalised anxiety disorder is on the rise in the UK, especially in young women.
Hanzla Amir and Derek Tracy summarise a recent online randomised controlled trial on the effects of suicide awareness materials on people who feel suicidal, which finds that the Papageno effect is real and that stories of hope and recovery can help.
Jack Kerwin and Derek Tracy summarise a new RCT published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, which suggests that twice weekly psychotherapy (CBT or IPT) may be more effective than once weekly sessions for people with depression.
Emmeline Lagunes Cordoba and Derek Tracy explore a case control study that looks at cognitive change in people with schizophrenia and other psychoses in the decade following the first episode.
LucÍa Almazán Sánchez and Derek Tracy appraise a new paper in the British Journal of Psychiatry on continuity of care and clinical outcomes in the community for people with severe mental illness.
Dafni Katsampa and Derek Tracy get all cultured and summarise a retrospective cohort study of museum attendance and dementia incidence, which suggests that cultural engagement may help protect us from cognitive decline.
The research is led by Daisy Fancourt who heads up the new MARCH Network which is launching later this month.
