Meet the team

Our Cotswold House Oxford community service is a multi-disciplinary team,with staff from a variety of backgrounds, bringing different areas of expertise to the service.

Consultant Clinical Psychologist – David Viljoen
The Consultant Psychologist provides clinical leadership alongside the Consultant Psychiatrist and Modern Matron to the inpatient, day patient and community service.  He is part of the Eating Disorders Management Team and involved in the further development of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire  eating disorders services as well as the HOP New Care Models.

Assistant Psychologist – Kate Costello, Jon Hollyman

The Assistant Psychologists deliver a CBT-based, manualised, guided self-help intervention for patients with a diagnosis of binge eating disorder or bulimia nervosa. Guided self-help is the recommended first line of treatment for both binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa. The evidence-based manual that is followed at Cotswold House is ‘Overcoming Binge Eating’ by Professor Christopher Fairburn.

The Assistant Psychologists are also responsible for the collection and analysis of our patient questionnaires, which are completed by patients at assessment, start of treatment and end of treatment. This data allows us to measure our patients’ progress throughout treatment and also evaluate our interventions and service as a whole.

Family Therapist – Simon Cornwell

The Family Therapist provides systematic assessments and therapy to patients and their families and also runs the Families and Friends Group which is held monthly on a Saturday.

Speciality doctor 

The Speciality Doctor attends to the medical needs of our patients. Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust is a training organisation, and the eating disorder service employs doctors at various levels of their postgraduate training. We have a part time Foundation Doctor, who rotates every four months, a psychiatric Senior House Officer, who rotates every six months, and there is an option for an advanced trainee to work in the team for 12 months.

Consultant Psychiatrist – Dr Amit Mistry

The Consultant Psychiatrist has medical responsibility for the care of patients. He takes a lead, along with other senior members of the team, in assessment and multi-disciplinary team reviews, providing support in diagnosis, planning treatment, liaison with other agencies, teaching, research and monitoring work practices and performances. He is part of the Eating Disorders management ream and is involved in the development of the unit. He also takes on the role of Responsible Clinician (RC) according to the requirements of the Mental Health Act (1983).

Clinical Nurse Specialist – Joel Hawkins

The Clinical Nurse Specialist is part of the therapy team in the community service.  They will see anyone new to our team for up to ninety minutes, to get a full idea of both their present situation and what may have led up to their becoming unwell. They work individually with a wide range of patients.

Psychologists Team: Clinical Psychologists: Dr Roshan Jones, Joanna Glebocka, Dr Roshan Jones, Dr Emma Pallister, Dr Agata Rybicka

Counselling Psychologist: Dr Lydia Ling

The team of psychologists offer assessment, formulation and psychological treatment. Working in the local eating disorders community team and inpatients, they play a key role in the multi-disciplinary team and with the delivery of the group programme.

Dietitians – Julie Lambert 

The Dietitian is a specialist source of expertise in the dietetic management of eating disorders. They work with the patients to develop an agreed meal plan and also contributes to the running of the group programme.

Social Workers

The social workers work across the out, day and inpatient service, providing support and information to individuals  and their families with day to day issues that impact on their lives. They are able to support people with benefits,  housing and debt and money worries. As well as support individuals looking for local community support groups / college / voluntary work and paid work. They also provides support to those with low confidence and self esteem, engaging with them with practical support to build confidence in the community which will enable them to overcome social exclusion and social anxieties.

Lorna Collins – Peer support worker

Peer Support Workers have lived experience of being an eating disorder patient. They bring their experiences of treatment and recovery to patients and the team, offering empathy, compassion and hope. Peer support workers help patients brainstorm and experiment with building a recovery identity, and give practical support with challenges in daily life, such as mealtimes, shopping, conversations with family/friends, social activities, difficult feelings or body image. The idea for the role of a peer support worker is to work collaboratively with the patients to create goals, skills and strategies, and test these out, learning practical tips for how to live well.

Vickie Kearney – Lead Nurse

Hermione Wasely – Community Support Worker

Admin Team – Office Manager (Tracy Barrett), Admin Assistant (Trish Webster), Admin (Sarah Khan, Mandy Blessing)

Our admin team provide an efficient and comprehensive secretarial and administrative service to the unit. They manage all administrative duties and ensure all systems are in place for the effective running of the unit. Their duties include arranging meetings and sending out clinical information securely.