Lord Patel brings deep expertise in mental health care, including in the areas of substance misuse and community cohesion. While serving the UK Government, Lord Patel held roles as the National Strategic Director for the National Institute for Mental Health England, and as a member of the Post-legislative Scrutiny Select Committee on the Mental Capacity Act 2005.
Lord Patel also has significant experience serving on both public and independent sector boards, including chairing for six years the Mental Health Act Commission, the national body responsible for overseeing the care and treatment of all patients detained under the Mental Health Act.
He was Chair of the Delivering Race Equality (DRE) Board, one of the largest mental health race equality programmes ever undertaken, which implemented a major multi-million pound Government national strategy across England and Wales.
Having been awarded an OBE for his ‘Services to Ethnic Minority Health Issues’, Lord Patel also holds a number of academic accolades within the healthcare sector, including an honorary Doctorate of Health from the University of Bradford and Professorial Fellow of Mental Health from the Institute of Mental Health Nottingham.
Having been a regulator across a number of regulatory agencies and frameworks, Lord Patel offers invaluable insight and experience in this area.
Lord Patel of Bradford said: “I am delighted to be appointed as Senior Independent Director to the board of Cygnet Health Care. This advisory role will give me the opportunity to help Cygnet further enhance its provision to its service users, which include some of the most vulnerable people in society, and help ensure they have the best outcomes modern, high-quality mental health care can provide. Mental health is one of our country’s most pressing issues and working with the regulator, stakeholders and Cygnet’s staff group, service users and their families, will also give me valuable insight and a more informed perspective on what we need to do to help improve mental healthcare provision for all.”
Dr Tony Romero, Chief Executive of Cygnet Health Care, said: “Lord Patel is one of the foremost experts in mental health, both in the UK and internationally, and his extensive knowledge and expertise will be immensely important for Cygnet as we continually strive to offer the highest standard of mental health care. He has wide experience of all aspects of mental health and across society as a whole, including particular issues faced by ethnic minorities, and I am sure his contribution to both our efforts and those of the wide number of public bodies with which he is involved, to further enhance mental health care in the country will be extremely valuable in the years to come.”