The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families' Medical Director recognised for developing new approach to help isolated and vulnerable teenagers
The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families' Medical Director, Dickon Bevington, has been recognised for his innovative work developing a new treatment for teenagers with severe mental health problems.
At a reception on Thursday 30th October, Dr Dickon Bevington was named as one of 50 top health care innovators in the UK by the Health Service Journal (HSJ). The HSJ’s list celebrates those working in the NHS and the wider healthcare sector who have taken innovative approaches that make a tangible difference to patients, their colleagues and society.
Dr Bevington is being recognised for developing a radical approach for working with vulnerable teenagers with alcohol and drug problems who are often self-harming and suicidal. These young people often avoid seeking help for a range of reasons, and without any effective intervention their difficulties are likely to be life long.
Dr Bevington said: “I am thrilled to be recognised in this way, although I am only the representative of a much larger team, committed to developing effective and affordable ways of helping young people whose multiple difficulties make it easy for conventional services to conclude that they are “unreachable”, or worse, un-helpable.”