Dyfodol and RCPsych in Wales - National Psychosis Conference 2026

The innovative Dyfodol (meaning 'Future') programme offers several workstreams to both respond to challenges and opportunities across the health service, but also to model and design future services and pathways. This is achieved through an evidence-based, and informed approach, and through research collaborations with partners.

The programme is hosted within the National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH), and works in partnership with RCPsych in Wales and the NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee (JCC). It's received funding, and reports to Welsh Government on commissioned work.

This National Psychosis Conference will mark a formal launch of the Dyfodol programme, whilst the programme has also helped subsidise the registration cost for delegates.

Further information on Dyfodol is available.

Since last year's RCPsych International Congress, which was held in Newport; RCPsych in Wales has been celebrating its 20 year anniversary with a range of activities and events.

You can read more detail on the unique artwork of Rhiannon Roberts, which was commissioned to mark this milestone.

We have a number of bursaries for medical students who wish to attend this conference.

Please complete the linked form and we'll be in touch.

We are delighted that the following work will be displayed at the conference:

Single Blind, Parallel-Group Randomised Sham-Controlled Trial to evaluate the efficacy of a single session ‘Intervention for Caregiver Affiliate stigma REduction’ (iCARE) in severe mental illnesses.

• Dr Tanve Garg

Initial trends in recruitment for the Early Intervention Mission in Cambridgeshire & Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust

• Dr Marie Bowers
  

When Bipolar Disorder Meets Breast Cancer: Complex Psychopharmacological Management During Chemotherapy

• Dr Rishabh Chormalle, Dr Ahmed Oladosu

Hormonal sensitivity and genetics: investigating postpartum psychosis, menstruation and menopause

• Jessica Mei Kay Yang, Dr Ganna Leonenko, Dr Antonio F. Pardiñas, Prof Lisa Jones, Dr Katherine Gordon-Smith, Prof Nicholas Craddock, Prof Ian Jones, Prof Veerle Bergink, Prof Valentina Escott-Price, Prof Arianna Di Florio

Improving Responses to Referrals in an Early Intervention Service 

• Dr Joanne Hew, Dr Raya Al-Bader, Dr Ayesha Naveed, Dr Elvan Akyuz

Exploring the prevalence of anxiety disorders in ADHD and identifying risk factors in a clinical sample

• Maryam Khan, Dr Sharifah Shameem Agha, Dr Olga Eyre

Pulse Width Matter? Cognitive and Clinical outcome trial Comparing Brief and Ultra brief pulse width of ECT for schizophrenia 

• Dr Gulesh Kumar, Upasana Rai, Surendra Paliwal, Surjit Prasad

Genetic contributions to poor outcomes in psychotic disorders

• Dr Eilidh Fenner, Dr Elliott Rees, Prof James Walters

The Role of Perceived Birth Trauma in the Onset of Postpartum Psychosis

• Miss Kareena Ratti, Prof Arianna Di Florio, Miss Jessica Yang

Monitoring of Prolactin in Patients Prescribed Depot Antipsychotics: A Clinical Audit Against NICE and Local Guidance

• Alexander Hoskins, Dr Gulesh Kumar
  

Diagnostic Algorithm for Clozapine-Induced Myocarditis: A Systematic Review

• Yassir Mahgoub, Rawan Alhau, Yumna Magzoub, Aya Ali, Eptihal Nour, Mustafa EE Saeed, Sameera GM Mohamed, Ahmed OS Hassan, Omaima Ali

An Audit of Metabolic Syndrome Monitoring and Management in Patients Treated with Antipsychotic in Primary Care

• Lok Yiu Wong

Brain on heart: The autonomic modulation of cardiac function in patients on antipsychotics using Heart Rate Variability (HRV) analysis – A prospective study

• Dr Tanve Garg 

We are delighted to introduce several of our speakers and sessions.

Thursday 23 April

Chair: Professor Alka Ahuja MBE, Chair of Royal College of Psychiatrists in Wales

Keynote Address

• Kate Northcott Spall

Understanding Postpartum Psychosis

• Dr Sally Wilson, Action on Postpartum Psychosis

Genetics in Psychosis: From Discovery to the All-Wales Psychiatric Genomics Service

• Dr Kim Kendall, All Wales Psychiatric Genomics Service

Co-occurring Substance Misuse and Mental Health Disorders (CoSUM)

• Dr Owen Bowden-Jones CBE, Registrar, Royal College of Psychiatrists

'Dyfodol' informing the future design of mental health services in Wales

• Professor Alka Ahuja MBE, Chair of Royal College of Psychiatrists in Wales
• Ollie John, Head of Dyfodol, National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health

Challenging Cartesian Dualism: Neurological conditions presenting as Psychosis in Children

• Dr Ashley Liew, Consultant Paediatric Neuropsychiatrist, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Title TBC

• Professor Helen Killaspy, Professor of Rehabilitation Psychiatry, University College London

Tour of Principality Stadium

Friday 24 April

Chair: Dr Katie Fergus, Chair of Royal College of Psychiatrists Wales Faculty of Rehabilitation & Social Psychiatry

Closing the mortality gap - our model for change

• Dr Ed Beveridge, Physical Health Lead, Royal College of Psychiatrists

Oral Poster Presentations

Pragmatic approaches in management of psychosis in Older Adults & Digital Innovation in QTc monitoring our experience

• Professor Mani Santhana Krishnan, Consultant Psychiatrist at Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust 

AI & Psychosis

• Dr Hamilton Morrin, Academic Clinical Fellow, Kings College London

An aetiological approach to the treatment of psychosis

• Professor Sir Robin Murray, Professor of Psychiatric Research, Kings College London

Title TBC

• Professor Pamela Taylor CBE, Professor of Forensic Psychiatry, Cardiff University 
  

When 39-year old William (Wim) Northcott died in 2021 in his residential care home, his sister Kate began a determined search for answers. She discovered that Wim’s prescribed medication, clozapine, had materially contributed to his death. Over the next three years, Kate investigated widespread failures in clozapine monitoring, culminating in her findings being published in The Times in January 2024.

Refusing to let Wim’s death pass without meaningful change, Kate worked with the Chief Executive of the Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and collaborated closely with the President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Dr Lade Smith and her team. Together, they developed ‘Wim’s protocol’, a new approach to safer clozapine monitoring.

An eLearning podcast has been developed, and is available.

We're delighted that Wim's sister Kate Northcott Spall will be joining us at the Conference.