Dr. Giles Berrisford
Medical Director, Maudsley Health Hospital, Consultant Psychiatrist
Abu Dhabi
Dr. Giles Berrisford is a Consultant Psychiatrist trained in the UK and Medical Director of Maudsley Health Hospital Abu Dhabi. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and has held a number of elected leadership roles within the College, including Vice Chair of the Faculty of Perinatal Psychiatry. He remains an elected member of the Faculty Executive Committee and is Co-Chair of the International Marcé Society Special Interest Group for Mother and Baby Units. He has contributed to a range of scientific, academic, and policy-related mental health publications and has completed the prestigious Nye Bevan Leadership Programme for NHS England. He graduated in medicine from the University of Birmingham.
Dr. Berrisford is a trained General Adult Psychiatrist with specialist expertise in perinatal psychiatry, including the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental health difficulties before conception, during pregnancy, and following birth. He works with women experiencing a broad range of conditions including depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar affective disorder, schizophrenia, postpartum psychosis, tokophobia, bonding disorders, and perinatal depression and anxiety.
He is committed to providing high-quality, evidence-based psychiatric care using a collaborative and holistic approach. He works closely with patients and families to develop personalised treatment plans that reflect individual priorities and promote recovery, wellbeing, and early intervention through a bio-psycho-social model of care.
At Maudsley Health Hospital Abu Dhabi, Dr. Berrisford is leading the development of a new specialist mental health hospital providing 138 inpatient beds across 11 wards for patients with a range of mental health conditions. The hospital includes the region’s first inpatient Mother and Baby Unit and specialist Eating Disorder Unit.
Dr. Berrisford has worked within the NHS in England for more than 25 years. Prior to relocating to the UAE in 2024, he served for eight years as National Specialty Advisor for Perinatal Mental Health to NHS England, supporting the national expansion of specialist perinatal mental health services across England. He is also the Founding Chair of the Perinatal Mental Health Chapter of the Emirates Medical Association (EMA), under the Emirates Society for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (ESCAM).
Spoken Language/s: English