The Psychiatry Leadership Interviews... Billy Boland

Billy Boland is a consultant psychiatrist and Associate Medical Director (AMD) at Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, St Albans. Lucy Potter and Jen Perry interview him.

Tell us about your current role

I work as a consultant general adult psychiatrist in community mental health services. Our service has been undergoing a transformation; we moved over to services organised around care clusters to join services up with funding via Payment by Results. Clinicians have had a role in influencing these changes and have been key to implementing change.

As an AMD I’ve been undertaking a review of our Trust’s acute services. I’ve also been working on the 5 year health service strategy with our local CCG. Here you have to try to put yourself in the shoes of a psychiatrist, a patient, a carer, a manager and a taxpayer which I’ve really enjoyed.

How did you get there?

When I became a consultant initially, I wanted to focus on my clinical work. I spent time on caseload management, audit and developing assessment skills within our team. It was important to get the systems working like clockwork and to allow the team to get to know me. It enabled more forward management and less reacting to situations. I presented the development work I’d done locally and was encouraged to get involved in various committees.

I went onto be a junior Medical Lead and held a Lead Clinician role in Safeguarding Adults. Our medical director is a strong clinical leader and believes in the power of consultants influencing service change, which has helped me develop.