Joe works to resolve staff conflict in the NHS via his role as a workplace mediator, and helps staff cope with the emotional impact of working in healthcare as Clinical Lead for Schwartz Rounds at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV NHSFT). After undergraduate medicine at Nottingham, he trained in adult psychiatry in London and Newcastle, and worked as a consultant psychiatrist in the North East until NHS retirement in 2021. Previously as Clinical Director of R&D at TEWV, he established the research partnership between the Trust and the University of York. He was also Head of the Mental Health Research Group at Durham University and held leadership roles in the NIHR Clinical Research Network.
Joe’s research degree work examined the association between psychotropic drugs, cardiotoxicity and sudden death. His main research interest has been personality disorder - the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions, and approaches to diagnosis and risk. As co-investigator he completed two major NIHR Health Technology Assessment funded randomised trials in personality disorder (PEPS and LABILE). He continues involvement in large scale clinical trials in mental health as co-investigator on the NIHR Programme Grant for Applied Research “Community-based behavioural activation training (ComBAT) for adolescents” led by Professor Lina Gega.