Antony Sheehan President

About me

Anthony is a Quality Improvement Fellow and President of the Church Health Center of Memphis, USA.

At the time of his fellowship, Professor Sheehan was Chief Executive Officer of one of England’s largest Community Services Trusts, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, which provides Mental Health, Learning Disability and Community Health Services.

He has a national and international reputation in the field of health care and has been a prominent figure in developing mental health and disability services in England for the last decade. In the international context he was a key partner in developing the International Initiative for Mental Health Leadership (IIMHL).  

Previously, Professor Sheehan was a senior civil servant, heading an important group within the Department of Health. His responsibilities as Director General included policy objectives with regard to:

• mental health
• maternity and families
• children’s healthcare
• asylum heath and refugees
• health/Criminal Justice System interface
• cross cutting themes of respect and social inclusion.

He also led Social Care policy for three years and had policy responsibility for older people and disability. During his leadership for social care a key policy development was the focus on personalisation, including direct payments for care.

He has a keen interest in the implementation of better services rather than simply creating policy, and has a strong track record of doing so through organisations such as NIMHE (The National Institute for Mental Health in England), which he developed and subsequently led as its first Chief Executive.

Antony is a nurse by background and has worked in practice, education and management at regional level within mental health and other specialist services prior to joining the Civil Service. 

At the time of his fellowship, Antony chaired the Board of Trustees on one of England’s large Mental Health Charities ‘Together’. The Charity focuses on promoting inclusion and wellbeing for people with long term mental health problems.

During 2011/12, Antony took a Quality Improvement Fellowship at Harvard University. This prestigious award is given to only a handful of leaders in healthcare each year by the Health Foundation to study at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. The focus for his study is on integration of physical and mental health services and achieving more joined up systems of care for older people as well as young children and their families.