Sibo Attley – Hospital Manager

Sibo started her career in the business sector as a graduate management trainee. In 2006 Sibo graduated as a mental health nurse from the University of West of Scotland.

She has worked in a range of psychiatric services in both the NHS and private sector. Sibo has also worked in community healthcare with the Personality Disorder Managed Clinical Network in Leeds.

Sibo has a special interest in working with people with a diagnosis of personality disorder and she also enjoys working with teams in managing change, implementing new service developments and turning around underperforming units.

Sibo is passionate about enhancing patient experience through using evidence based practice and patients’ strengths and skills. Sibo’s academic achievements include BSC, MSC in Leadership Management and Change, Advance Practice in CBT, Mentalisation Based Therapy and various psychological therapies. She is currently undertaking a Professional Doctorate at Salford University.

Sibo is the Registered Manager responsible for the hospital's male adult mental health and personality disorder services. Sibo is also an Enabling Environment Assessor for the Royal College of Psychiatry.

Dr Amar Seebhujun - Medical Director

Dr Seebhujun read Medicine and Surgery at Newcastle University before completing his basic psychiatric training in Newcastle. He was subsequently selected for higher training in Forensic Psychiatry in the North West. He spent several years as a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist across two regional Medium Secure Units in the NHS before taking on the role of Medical Director at Cygnet Bury Hudson. He is also the Responsible Clinician on Madison Ward, one of the few highly specialised male Medium Secure Personality Disorder wards across the country.

A keen medical educator, Dr Seebhujun has held several senior NHS roles in medical education and has obtained formal qualifications in the field. He currently serves as Deputy Regional Advisor to the Royal College of Psychiatrists and as an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Dr Seebhujun is passionate about medical leadership and healthcare management. He is particularly interested in service development, patient safety and quality improvement. His other academic interests are in the medicolegal aspects of forensic psychiatry, with significant experience as an expert witness in criminal matters.

Chipo Dedza - Clinical Manager

Chipo graduated as a Registered Mental Health Nurse from the University of Surrey in 2006. She has worked in a range of psychiatric services, including Acute, PICU, Rehabilitation, Low Secure, and Medium Secure. Most of her extensive experience has been in forensic services, primarily in the independent sector, where she has mainly worked with adult men.

Chipo has completed various courses in leadership and management and has held management roles since 2013. She has received several awards, including a staff excellence award in recognition for Taking Quality to the Highest Level in 2014.

Chipo is innovative and she was heavily involved in commissioning and establishing a new PICU service in her previous role. She is a lead reviewer for the Quality Network for Forensic Mental Health Services. Chipo is passionate about patient care, she advocates for and implements least restrictive practices to ensure the best possible care for our patients.

As a Clinical Manager Chipo is dedicated to supporting her staff and fostering a positive work environment where they feel valued and empowered to perform at their best.

Grant Stevens - General Manager

Grant has over 20 years’ experience working in various operational management roles in some of the largest healthcare providers both in South Africa and the UK. He relocated to the UK in 2004 where his career focussed mainly in operations and project management and the commissioning of Independent Sector Treatment Centres in partnership with the NHS.

Grant joined Alpha Hospitals, now Cygnet, as the Relationship Manager for the North in August 2014. Prior to that he held the position of Head of Operations Clinical Services at Bupa Home Healthcare. Grant was appointed to the position of General Manager at Cygnet Hospital Bury in January 2016 where he is responsible for the management and functioning of all non-clinical areas of the hospital.

Dr Rebecca Wharton - Consultant Forensic Psychologist

Rebecca is a Consultant Forensic Psychologist, with 24 years of specialised clinical experience in criminal justice and complex mental health settings. She has been working as a Lead Psychologist with Cygnet since 2021 and is responsible for the delivery of high quality, patient centred care with multi-disciplinary collaboration. Since July 2012 she has worked in a range of mental health and rehabilitation settings providing a psychological service and prior to this was employed by HM Prison Service for 11 years where she contributed to the effective delivery of North West Psychological Services.

Rebecca is committed to the training, supervision and development of staff and is an Accredited Tutor with the Association for Psychological Therapies, is on the Register of Applied Psychology Supervisors (RAPPS) and is working towards a level 5 diploma in Leadership and Management as awarded by the Chartered Institute of Management. She works as a DBT therapist/skills trainer, she is trained in EMDR and as a Schema therapist. She is experienced in assessment and delivering a range of clinical interventions with client groups including those with personality disorder, mental illness, substance misuse problems, complex trauma response and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Laura Hobson - Clinical, Quality and Compliance Manager

Laura has over 13 years’ experience working within the Independent healthcare sector, which includes for providers of NHS commissioned care. Laura has held local and national roles within some of the largest healthcare providers in the UK and is currently undertaking a Masters in Counselling and Psychotherapy at the University of Salford.

Laura joined Cygnet in 2022 as a Regional Clinical Risk Manager. Her current role as Clinical, Quality and Compliance Manager includes the oversight of the hospital's clinical governance framework, delivery of care in line with regulatory and Commissioning standards, monitoring of compliance, and fostering.

Sheanagh Pearson-McAuliffe - Lead Occupational Therapist

Sheanagh qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 2017 and has extensive experience in locked rehabilitation settings, working with diverse populations including individuals with ASD, learning disabilities, personality disorders, and complex mental health needs. Since rejoining Cygnet in 2022, she has led occupational therapy initiatives in male mental health and personality disorder wards, becoming Lead OT in February 2023.

Sheanagh has completed various specialist trainings, including Vdt MoCA, OT Grow, sensory integration, and compassionate-focused therapy. She is passionate about service development, staff training, individualized care, and driving change within secure services. She is also involved in mentoring students and improving service ratings.

Her aspiration is to further develop occupational therapy within secure services, and she will soon begin a Level 5 leadership and management qualification.

Paul Henshall - Lead Social Worker and Safeguarding Lead

Paul has worked at Cygnet Bury since 2006 when he was employed as a social worker. Paul qualified as a social worker in 2003 having previously been employed as a social worker in a Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) in Stamford, Lincolnshire working with adults with a severe and enduring mental illness in the community. He has also been employed as a social worker in Airedale, Bradford working within an older persons CMHT. Prior to working as a social worker, Paul had experience of working in substance misuse and also in a brain injury unit in York.

Paul’s current role as Lead Social Worker and Safeguarding Lead involves leading a team of social workers and a social work assistant and offering support and guidance where necessary. As Safeguarding Lead he also chairs regular safeguarding meetings and liaises with the local authority in relation to safeguarding concerns that are raised.

More recently Paul has also been made a Carer’s Lead and has been working on the implementation of the Triangle of Care within Cygnet Bury Hudson.

Paul Nightingale - Security Lead

After leaving Canon Slade Grammar school at 16 years old Paul studied for 3 years at Bolton Catering College graduating in 1986 with City and Guilds qualifications in multiple areas of the Hospitality industry. He spent the next 5 years working in Hotels and restaurants in his home town.

1991 saw a change of direction leading him to Reading to study Mental Health Nursing at the Royal Berkshire School of Nursing and Midwifery enrolling on the first wave of the Project 2000 Nursing programme. Affiliated to Reading University Paul graduated in 1994.

1995 took Paul to Bristol where he returned to the Hospitality industry running Bars, Restaurants and Nightclubs in the City Centre, returning to his home town of Bolton in 1999 and working for the NHS in the Prescription Pricing Authority.

Paul commenced work at Alpha Hospital Bury in February 2009 as a Mental Health Support Worker on Upper East ward transferring roles in December 2012 to work within the Security Team. Following the change to Cygnet Hospital Paul continued in his role and was promoted to the Head of Security for Cygnet Bury in July 2019 where he remained until the recent restructuring of the Hospitals.

Paul is now the Security Lead for Cygnet Bury Hudson working within a highly specialised area of Forensic Psychiatry and alongside a dedicated and experienced management team.