Key details
Simon McArdle
Senior Lecturer, Mental Health Nursing
Simon McArdle is a Senior Lecturer for Mental Health Nursing in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Greenwich.
Simon has a clinical background in therapeutic communities, therapeutic group work, and personality disorder. During this time he was a member of the national Executive Committee for therapeutic communities at the Royal College of Psychiatrists, was Chair of their Education and Training sub-group and member of the Research and Development sub-group.
Simon joined the university in 2006, bringing expert skills, knowledge and experience in his field to develop a post-registration course for working with people with personality disorder. No such provision previously existed and is unique across post-registration mental health nursing provision countrywide, focusing on meeting the needs of non-specialist generic workers that work with patients or clients presenting personality pathology or diagnosis.
He was joint course leader on Psychosocial Perspectives of Health for pre-registration first year students and has since developed and launched a personal safety, Breakaway Training course on the undergraduate programme.
He has also become course coordinator on pre-registration field specific courses, and continually strives to enhance the student experience.
Simon trained as a Reviewer and Lead Reviewer for the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Quality Improvement Network for therapeutic communities, chairing workshops at the Quality Improvement Network's Annual Conference. He has an active role within the University of Greenwich on quality issues across the faculty, acting as mental health reviewer for the devolved autonomy Nursing and Midwifery Council review on the pre-registration programme and a central role in maintaining departmental Fitness to Practise requirements for students.
Posts held previously:
- 2005-06, Clinical Team Leader, dangerous and severe personality disorder pilot, East London NHS Trust
- 2003-05, Lecturer/Practitioner, personality disorder service, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
- 2001-03, Nurse Therapist, Francis Dixon Lodge, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust
Responsibilities within the university
- Senior Lecturer, Mental Health Nursing, Department of Family Care & Mental Health
- Joint Course Leader for Psychosocial Perspectives of Health on pre-registration programme
- Breakaway trainer
- Fitness to Practise coordinator
- Quality Reviewer
Recognition
- Faculty Representative, Faculty Staff Survey Group, Faculty of Education and Health, 2015
- Faculty Representative, Faculty Portfolio Group, Faculty of Education and Health, 2014
- External Examiner, Foundation Degree in Counselling, University of Ulster, 2012
- Editor (Reviews), International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, 2008
Research / Scholarly interests
Simon's research interests are in forensic therapeutic communities, antisocial personality disorder and ethics. His MPhil/PhD study investigates the autonomy of prisoners with Antisocial Personality Disorder in a prison therapeutic community and developed a close working relationship with HM Inspectorate for Prisons.