Spotlight on Rebecca Gray

Could you tell us a little bit about your background? 

I’m originally from Southport in the North West but have lived in London for the last thirty years. I studied law and politics at university and my interest in politics led me initially into public affairs, my first job after graduating was as a parliamentary officer for a charity.  

How did you begin your career in health and care? 

My first role in health and care was as a care assistant in a nursing home in my late teens. The home was intended for older adults with dementia but the local psychiatric hospital – essentially a Victorian asylum – had closed and patients with a wide range of mental health challenges, learning disability and neurological conditions, had been moved in. Despite the best efforts of the (generally untrained staff) it was an entirely inappropriate setting where people did not get the care and support they needed. That experience has really stayed with me, particularly challenging me to consider the perspectives of service users and seeking out the insights of people with lived experience.  

In later life, I worked for the Alzheimer’s Society in the early 2000’s and then for a number of healthcare regulators, before joining The King’s Fund. Most recently, I was chief executive of The Maudsley Charity, which is a grant funder working in partnership with South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.  

What’s the most important lesson you have learned on that journey? 

That change takes time. It’s easy to get dispirited seeing the obstacles that get in the way of people getting the best care and support - the same issues seem to come up over and over again and progress can fall back in the next cycle of challenges and change within the system.  

However, when I look back at my experience as a 17-year-old care assistant, I take some comfort in the fact that what was then seen as an acceptable way to treat people with mental health illness would definitely not be considered acceptable now. This means that change is happening, even if we do not always notice it taking place in real time. So, the key lesson for me is to recognise the positive work that is being done while we continue pushing for more.  

What excites you the most about the direction of the NHS Confederation, and how will you contribute towards it? 

Overall, I am excited about working with such a diverse range of organisations to identify new ways to solve old issues. I want to find ways to remove the barriers that get in the way of delivering good care for service users, while growing our platform for influencing in a way that has the greatest direct tangible impact on the lives of people who need support and services.  

I’m looking forward to not only working with members of the network, but also colleagues in the wider Confederation, to use its unique position to influence genuine system wide change. We know that good mental health generates a positive return for society and the wider economy, and that investing in the sector is something that creates value. Through the network, as well as our partnerships like the Mental Health Policy Group, we can continue to develop an evidence base for this. 

I also know that the day-to-day practicalities around system working and unlocking its benefits are a priority for both our NHS members and our independent and third sector organisations. Working across the Confederation to access these new opportunities is something that excites me. I am conscious that we are in a period of significant change following the 2024 general election and I am determined to make sure that the mental health sector is in a strong position to influence for the future. 

What does it mean to you to be leading the Mental Health Network? 

The phrase dream job sounds clichéd but in this case I honestly do feel this to be true. I cannot imagine another role that would provide the same opportunity to work with so many leaders and organisations working in this sector, across such a diverse range of subjects, in policy and health service improvement. The network is well respected and in a very strong position to continue to advance these priorities on a national level, and I’m going to spend a lot of my first few months going out to hear from members about what they need from the network to ensure that we reflect this in our strategy and plans for the next few years. Of course, that door will remain open, and I would encourage anyone to reach out to me directly if there is anything that you would like to see more of or that we could do better.  

What areas of mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity care or policy do you feel most passionate about, and why? 

In my most recent role I focused on two areas – how to improve services and support for adults living with long term severe mental illness – as well as what we can do to intervene early in cases of young people with emerging mental illness. It's impossible to work on these topics and not become acutely aware of how deprivation and discrimination make people more vulnerable to ill health and less likely to get the care they need. And in the case of young people, we know that these missed opportunities can stay with a person for the rest of their lives. That is something I care deeply about. Those issues – particularly the social determinants of mental ill health, can’t be fixed solely within the mental health sector but recognising them, raising awareness and responding in the right way is incredibly important.  

What is your single biggest priority for the sector over the next 12 months and beyond? 

That’s tough. If I had to pick something – big and complex though it is – I would look at the massive treatment gap for mental health, the lack of parity of esteem, and how we understand and respond to it. Lord Darzi in his report to the Secretary of State highlighted the roughly one million people waiting for mental health services, with over 235,000 adults and 110,000 children and young people waiting more than a year before their first contact. As he phrased it, ‘long waits have become normalised’ and that is simply not acceptable. 

That does not mean only calling for more resources, because while we do know that there is not adequate funding to meet the need, we also need to think about how we can work differently. This is an expectation of the whole health and care system. That means more cross-sector partnerships, more effective use of digital services and technology and an openness to looking afresh at what can be provided and how. 

Finally, what is something members of the network might be surprised to know about you?  

It is not very glamorous, but outside of work I am obsessed with plants. I love gardening and will bore anyone who shows the slightest interest with pictures of my allotment.  

I have a very busy brain and I find that gardening is something that calms and grounds me.