Mental Health Alliance appoints new chair

The Mental Health Alliance has appointed Andy Bell, communications director at the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, as its new chair.

Bell takes the helm of the lobbying coalition from Paul Farmer, who stepped down after becoming chief executive of Mind.

The alliance was set up in 1999 to campaign for better mental health legislation and faces a busy time with the government currently preparing to present its latest legislative plans to parliament.

The government plans to amend the Mental Health Act 1983, including measures to remove the requirement that people detained under the act be considered treatable and replace approved social workers with approved mental health professionals.

Bell said he hoped to keep the alliance moving in the same way it had under Farmer. Rowena Daw, former head of policy and development at Mind, is the new vice-chair.