About Us

The International Safewards Conference is not just a scientific conference – it is an international mutual help meeting in the truest sense. Here, people with different roles – clinicians, researchers, service users, carers, advocates – meet on equal ground to share, to listen, and to learn.

At the centre of our gathering is the Spirit of Safewards. This spirit values ward cultures built on kindness, collaboration, and recovery. It is about creating environments where staff and service users feel safe, respected, and empowered.

Our time together in Prague will be filled with moments of inspiration, but also of reflection and connection. By combining formal presentations with open conversations and shared experiences, we want every delegate to leave with not just knowledge, but also a sense of belonging to the global Safewards community.

Scientific comittee

A/Prof Bridget Hamilton

Chair of the Scientific Committee

Director, Centre for Mental Health Nursing / Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences

(Australia)

Dr. Justine Fletcher

Centre for Mental Health and Community Wellbeing / Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Australia

(Australia)

Geoff Brennan

Safewards Supervisor / King’s College London / Mental Health Programmes, Royal College of Nursing / RCN Mental Health Nurse of the Year 2020

(United Kingdom)

Prof. Hülya Bilgin

PhD in Psychiatric Nursing, MSc, BN / Chair, Department of Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing / Istanbul University – Cerrahpaşa, Florence Nightingale Nursing Faculty

(Turkey)

Prof. Alan Simpson

Professor of Mental Health Nursing / Co-Director, NIHR Policy Research Unit in Mental Health (MHPRU) / Care in Long Term Conditions Research Division, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care / Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London

(United Kingdom)

Prof. Dr. Michael Schulz

LWL-Klinikum Gütersloh / Diaconic University of Applied Sciences, Bielefeld

(Germany)

Assoc. Prof. Anna Björkdahl

Centre for Psychiatric Research / Department of Clinical Neuroscience / Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

(Sweden)

Prof. Lene Lauge Berring

Research Leader, Psychiatric Research Unit, Region Zealand Psychiatry, Slagelse / RN, Professor, Department of Regional Health Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense / Docent, University College Absalon, Roskilde

(Denmark)

Prof. Dr. André Nienaber

Director of Nursing, Medical-Therapeutic Services and Social Work, Member of the Executive Board / University Psychiatric Clinics (UPK) Basel / Honorary Professor of Nursing Science with a focus on mental health and psychiatric nursing / Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences

(Switzerland)

Raf Hamaizia

Works to shape mental health care through his lived experience. He is Expert by Experience / Lead at Cygnet Group, has contributed to over 150 Care Quality Commission inspections, and was one of 12 chairs of the Independent Review of the Mental Health Act.

(United Kingdom)

Organizing committee

Tomas Petr

Head nurse, Clinic of Psychiatry and Neuropsychiatry, Military University Hospital Prague / Board Member, Horatio – European Psychiatric Nurses / Board Member, Psychiatric Section of Czech National Nurses Association

Geoff Brennan

Safewards Supervisor / King’s College London / Mental Health Programmes, Royal College of Nursing / RCN Mental Health Nurse of the Year 2020

Prof. Dr. Michael Löhr

Director of Nursing, LWL-Klinikum Gütersloh / Honorary Professor of Psychiatric Nursing / University of Applied Sciences, Diakonie Bielefeld

Lenka Březinová

Project Manager, Centre for Mental Health Care Development (CMHCD) / Leading education projects, peer consultant integration, and conflict prevention in psychiatric care settings

Susanna Flansburg

APN, Acute Psychiatric Home Treatment and Community Care / LWL-Klinikum Gütersloh, Germany / Board Member, Horatio – European Psychiatric Nurses

Safewards Conference
Lenka Březinová
+420 778 502 171
brezinova@cmhcd.cz