My name is Matthew Simpson and I am the Programme Lead for the Post-Graduate Diploma in Advanced Mental Health Practice, a programme to prepare suitably qualified and experienced practitioners to undertake the role of the Approved Mental Health Professional (AMHP) under the Mental Health Act 1983. The programme is delivered in Bournemouth, Exeter and London. I am responsible for all cohorts, but teach mainly on the programme held in Bournemouth where I am also the Unit Lead for four units: Ethics, Values, and Perspectives in Mental Health; Mental Health and the Law; The AMHP Role in Practice; and Enabling Work-Based Learning (Practice Assessment).

I have completed my Supervisory Development Training and am keen to supervise a doctoral student. My interests are in the field of mental health, social work, and participatory and collaborative research approaches.

I am a qualified Social Worker and I work for a Local Authority as an AMHP one day per week, where I formerly held a position as the AMHP Lead... I bring my ongoing practice experience into my role in education and feel this enhances the programme and my teaching.

I am an active researcher in the field of AMHP practice. My PhD concerned AMHP decision-making at the point of referral for a Mental Health Act assessment, and this research was conducted collaboratively under the strengths-based methodology of Appreciative Inquiry. This research culminated in changes to the AMHP service to enhance best practice, attracting interest from a range of other Local Authorities. Aspects of this research reconceptualise practice and I am developing strategies to influence national policy in light of this.

The AMHP role is a consistent thread through my education, research and practice roles, and I have a passion for human rights-based practice. I am interested in the complexity of AMHP practice on a personal as well as professional level, something evident in my teaching, practice and research outputs.