Arun Dhandayudham

I have been a Consultant in Addictions Psychiatry and a frontline clinician since 2005. My clinical roles have included being Clinical Director of substance misuse services across Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire as well as Clinical Lead for CGL in Northamptonshire. I have been in my current role as Joint CEO and Medical Director of WDP since 2015.

WDP is a charity provider of substance misuse services across London, the South East and the North West and treatment is provided across inpatient, community and prison settings. I oversee medical practice across WDP and manage complex detoxes at Passmores House which is an inpatient detox unit in Harlow. I am therefore acutely aware of day to day issues in substance misuse services.

My clinical interests include chronic arousal states such as pain and anxiety and their impacts on addiction, online shopping addiction as well as developing protocols to manage the increasingly complex detoxes for inpatient admissions. I am also passionate about a systems improvement approach and the use of technology such as WDP’s capital card for contingency management.

I have been a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Addictions Faculty for several years and have chaired the Patient and Carer group until 2018. I am currently the coordinator for the Regional Representatives of the Faculty.