About the staff
Graham Buchanan, Institute Manager
Graham is a co-founder of Playfield Institute and has been Manager since it opened in 2005. He has worked as a counsellor and Child & Adolescent Mental Health clinician since 1986, with a background in mental health nursing. He is currently a practicing lead professional in Family Therapy within the NHS Fife Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). Graham has a special interest in solution focused techniques and provides training and consultation on this and other topics. He works with various government groups and is the project leader on the HandsOnScotland website.
Telephone: 01334 696257
E-mail: grahambuchanan@nhs.net
Training
Morna Scriven, Institute Co-ordinator
Morna’s main role is to take the lead in administering the Institute’s training programme. She also commissions new training courses, covering a wide range of topics, with the aim of supporting workers in promoting the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people. Morna is the first point of contact for all visitors to the Institute. She worked as medical secretary with the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) for six years before moving to the Institute as Co-ordinator in 2005.
Telephone: 01334 696257
E-mail: morna.scriven@nhs.net
Catriona Swanston, Institute Assistant
Catriona supports the Institute Co-ordinator in the day-to-day running of training courses. She also provides admin support to other Institute staff on a range of other tasks including web-based searches and data entry.
Telephone: 01334 696278
E-mail: cswanston@nhs.net
Information
Derek Harley, Information and Resource Nurse
Derek is a co-founder of Playfield Institute. His role is to provide and develop information and resource services for frontline workers. He takes a lead in the development of the Playfield Institute and HandsOnScotland websites. Derek has worked in two children’s homes in Fife as a project worker and senior project worker. His experience within Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) includes working as a staff nurse at two inpatient units and as a community nurse within the Intensive Therapy Team and Generic Team in Fife.
Telephone: 01334 696041
E-mail: derekharley@nhs.net
Research & Development
Wendy Simpson, Institute Head of Research and Development
Dr Wendy Simpson is a co-founder of Playfield Institute. Based at the Institute, Wendy is a Public Health Scientist working for NHS Fife, Department of Public Health. She has a PhD in health psychology, several years experience in health services research and an honorary lectureship at the Department of Health Psychology in the Medical School, St Andrews University.
Telephone: 01334 696015
E-mail: w.simpson@nhs.net
Julia Neufeind, Researcher
Dr Julia Neufeind has recently completed her PhD in Psychology at the University of St Andrews. During her PhD, Julia was a demonstrator at the university, teaching research methodology and statistics. She has several years of experience in research, with a particular focus on cognitive and clinical psychology.
Telephone: 01334 696268
E-mail: Julia.Neufeind@nhs.net
Emma George, Researcher
Emma is involved in various projects at the Institute including the coordination of the CAMHS Outcome Research Consortium (CORC) process. She has a degree and Postgraduate Diploma in Psychology and has research experience from the Centre for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University in Canberra.
Telephone: 01334 696041
E-mail: emmageorge@nhs.net