Baroness Sheila Hollins

Chair, Founder

Sheila founded Beyond Words in 1989 and has co-authored over 50 titles.

Responsible for:

• Development

• Writing

• Innovative projects

• Partnerships

About:

Sheila is the Beyond Words Founder, Chair of trustees, and Editor of the Books Beyond Words series. She is Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry of Intellectual Disability at St George’s, University of London, and sits in the House of Lords as an independent crossbench peer. She is currently President of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists and President of the Royal Medical Benevolent Fund. From November 2019 to March 2023, she was the Independent Chair of an oversight panel to review the care of people with learning disabilities and autistic people in long term segregation/ solitary confinement.

Sheila has advised the Government on the development of many initiatives and policies. She was a founder member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. She is a past President of both the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and the British Medical Association; a past Chair of the Board of Science at the British Medical Association, and of the Expert Reference Group for Health Education England on the health and social care workforce required to implement the Transforming Care Programme.