Darren Shurmer

Darren is a Forensic Mental Health Nurse, and currently works as a Clinical Team Leader for West London NHS Trust. He has a degree in Psychology and Criminology, and master’s degrees in Forensic Psychology, the Psychology of Religion and Mental Health Nursing.

Darren specialises in working with people with a diagnosis of personality disorder, trauma-informed care and the prevention and management of violence and aggression. He also has a keen interest in reducing restrictive practice within mental health services, has published research in this area, and has contributed to the design of a national framework for reducing restrictive practice education with the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Darren is passionate about quality improvement and patient safety and has been a Trust Quality, Service Improvement and Redesign (QSIR) practitioner for two years. He also recently qualified as a Restorative Justice Practitioner and uses the restorative justice framework to address and acknowledge trauma caused by those who have committed serious violence against others.

Darren’s Fellowship with NIHR ARC NWL is driven by the challenge of providing effective mental health care for those who pose a high risk of serious violence. As part of his Fellowship, he will be working with patients and staff to design and implement a bespoke training programme for staff who work with patients nursed under long term segregation. It is hoped that the provision of co-produced specialist training for staff dealing with this extremely challenging client group will lead to more effective patient/staff collaboration, a reduction in patient experiences of hopelessness, a reduction in staff burnout and a reduction in the use of long-term segregation.