Morag Duff is a former solicitor who currently works as a freelance specialist CHC consultant. She has worked within the field of NHS continuing healthcare for over 10 years providing specialist advice and training for both health and social care organisations Morag is passionate about ensuring the individual is always at the heart of the assessment and care delivery process. In order to achieve this, she believes that partner organisations across health and social care must develop and nurture long-lasting and trusting relationships. This can only be achieved through a shared understanding and acceptance of the principles that underpin the National Framework as well as the processes that are set out in that guidance. Morag has worked closely with ADASS, the Department of Health and NHS England over the years, and was recently involved in the current revision of the National Framework, due to be implemented in October 2018.

Alex is a barrister at 39 Essex Chambers in London, and recommended as a ‘star junior’ in Chambers & Partners for his Court of Protection work. He has been in cases involving the MCA 2005 at all levels up to and including the Supreme Court. He also writes extensively, has numerous academic affiliations, including as Wellcome Research Fellow at King’s College London, and has his own website, www.mentalcapacitylawandpolicy.org.uk, on which he publishes news and blogs on MCA law and policy.

Gretchen Precey is an independent social worker, trainer and consultant specialising in work with children and families. She has had 25 years of experience in working with Fabricated or Induced Illness as both a practitioner and consultant, including a particular interest in safeguarding children with disabilities where FII is a possibility. Gretchen has trained widely on FII across the country and has published a number of papers related to this subject.

Stewart MacLachlan is Senior Legal and Policy Officer for the Migrant Children's Project, part of Coram Children’s Legal Centre. He manages the project’s training and legal guidance programmes, as well as contributing to the policy work of the project. He is co-author of Seeking Support (fifth edition), a guide to working with separated children and young people. Stewart is a practising Scottish solicitor, qualifying in 2010, and was previously accredited as a level 2 supervisor under the Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme in England. He has worked at an immigration firm in Nottingham, and worked for over 4 years in law centres in Scotland. He is also on the Board of Trustees at the Scottish Child Law Centre.

I knew when I was an adolescent that I wanted to be a Social Worker because I learned of the Sargent Cancer Care for Children charity and made it my mission to one day work for them. I qualified in 1997 having spent four years at Bath University, but knew that Sargent only employed ‘Senior’ Social Workers, so I spent a couple of years in C&F statutory teams in South Gloucestershire. I promised myself that I would apply for the first Sargent post that was advertised when I ‘hit’ my two years PQ, wherever in the Country it was! On my two-year PQ anniversary, a post was advertised in Birmingham Children's Hospital and my dream came true. I spent nearly five years doing my dream job till I decided it was time to move on and I found myself naturally gravitating ‘home’. I’ve worked in Hampshire since 2003, joining the Council initially as a Senior Practitioner. I was fortunate enough to spend 18 months seconded to the Isle of Wight in the initial stages of our partnership with them in 2013. I have learned so much through supporting other Local Authorities, learning that I draw on regularly and never take for granted. I have been in my current role as Head of Strategy and Operations for the East of Hampshire since February 2018 and have been the Strategic and Operational Lead for our exciting Transforming Social Care programme since March 2019. I can honestly say I love my job and working in our Outstanding service with my Outstanding colleagues. One of the proudest days of my career is, and I think will always be, sitting with the Senior Leadership Team in May 2019 and hearing the provisional feedback from our Ofsted inspection that we were Outstanding across the board – what an emotional moment! I love managing staff, supporting them to grow and observing their passion to improve the outcomes for children and families. I feel proud every day of the innovative, forward-thinking organisation that I work in and of the incredible people I get to work with. It is not every day that you get to be part of leading the way in changing the way we practice social work and transform service delivery. Hampshire has invested in me as a professional, showing commitment to my growth and development. I came to Hampshire as an Assistant Team Manager and have been grown by Hampshire into a Senior Leader for which I will always be grateful.

Dr Andy Mantell qualified in social work in 1991 from the University of Edinburgh. Since then he was worked in most areas of social work, but specialised in hospital social work with people with neuro-disabilities. He was accredited by East Sussex Social Services as a specialist in acquired brain Injury and completed his doctorate on carers for people with Huntington's disease. He qualified as a practice teacher and as an approved social worker (the predecessor to Approved Mental Health Professionals), he has a post qualifying award in social work (PQSW) and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Authority. He is a trustee of the Brain Injury Social Work Group (BISWG) and an executive committee member of the International Network of Social Workers in Acquired Brain Injury (INSWABI). Since 2005 he has worked as an educator and trainer with social workers and mental health nurses and recently joined Anglia Ruskin University London as a principal lecturer. His research interests include safeguarding adults, neuro-disability, carers, mental health, mental capacity, reflective practice and professional curiosity.

Geese Theatre Company is an internationally renowned team of applied theatre practitioners and group workers, working primarily within the UK criminal justice system and social welfare arenas. The company presents interactive theatre performances and facilitates workshops, specialised training for professionals and consultations for a wide range of social welfare agencies. These include the National Probation Service, community rehabilitation companies, prisons, special hospitals, young offender institutions and youth offending services, local safeguarding boards, clinical commissioning groups and social work teams. Established in 1987, the company has delivered training to over 200,000 people; presented work internationally, most recently in Australia, Sweden, Bulgaria and Azerbaijan; and been the recipient of many national awards, including a BAFTA, a Butler Trust Certificate, and the Arts and Health Award from the Royal Society of Public Health. The session will be led by Andy Watson MBE, the company’s artistic director. Having trained in Paris at the Lecoq School of Mime and Physical Theatre, he joined Geese in 1997, and became artistic director in 2003. His work involves overseeing the artistic integrity of the company’s work, devising theatre performances for use in a wide variety of social welfare settings, and developing creative projects with people in prisons, secure hospitals and in the community. He regularly delivers staff training events for professionals working with vulnerable, marginalised and volatile populations. Andy was appointed MBE in the Queen’s 2018 New Year Honours List for Service to the Arts in Criminal Justice.

Hannah Doughty qualified as a social worker in 1998 and started her career in youth justice. She worked in a number of youth offending teams as a practitioner and manager before becoming head of targeted services for Liverpool City Council in 2014. This was an integrated service including the youth offending service, targeted youth service and teams working with missing children and exploitation (child sexual exploitation and child criminal exploitation). Since October 2017, Hannah has been working in the London Borough of Croydon as head of adolescent services with a wider remit including social work teams specialising in working with 13- – 18-year-olds where there is risk outside of the home. Hannah has a specific interest in adolescent risk, child criminal exploitation and county lines. She is involved in looking at the most effective strategies to address these areas within a children’s services context but also in how to influence and work successfully with partner organisations: working with children experience exploitation but also in targeting perpetrators.

Meena is Bond Solon's senior lawyer trainer for health and social care. She is a specialist child protection and family lawyer, and safeguarding trainer, with over 20 years' experience of legal practice, teaching and training. She has spent 14 years as a legal adviser to the magistrates' court, and, has had had case management responsibility for care cases from application to final hearing.