Our patron, William Bingley, has died

I have been told that William Bingley, who has been our patron since 2009 has died. He was out walking on Sunday 31st July and fell into a gulley, sustaining fatal head injuries.  More details on the BBC web site here.

We will miss his kind and supportive presence.  A note of sympathy has been sent to his family on behalf of all our members.

William Bingley is a lawyer by training with a special interest in the law relating to health especially mental health, human rights and equality and diversity.  He was Legal Director of Mind (1983 -1989), Chief Executive of the Mental Health Act Commission (1990 -2000) and Professor of Mental Health Law and Ethics at the University of Central Lancashire (2000 – 2004). He is Chairman of a NHS Primary Care Trust in the North West.

He was a member of the Expert Committee appointed by the Government to undertake the initial review of the Mental Health Act and which reported in 1999.

He was also member of Guidelines Development Group developing NICE guidelines for the management of disturbed (violent) behaviour in psychiatric in-patient units and published in 2005.  He is a director of Bingley Consulting Ltd which provides advice and support to a range of public authorities about strategic change. He is Chief Executive (unpaid) of the Abaseen Foundation, a UK registered charity developing healthcare and education in the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan and he is a trustee of Mind in Furness.