Rebecca GraySector leader

Biography

Rebecca Gray is Director of the Mental Health Network at the NHS Confederation, a post she took up in January 2025. The Mental Health Network represents providers from across the statutory, independent and third sectors and works with government, regulators and the wider NHS to promote excellence in mental health services. She was previously chief executive of Maudsley Charity from 2016, the largest dedicated mental health fund in the UK, where she worked in partnership with South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London. Before that she served as Director of Communications and Information at The King's Fund, having joined from Monitor, the independent regulator of NHS foundation trusts, and earlier held senior communications roles at the Healthcare Commission and the Alzheimer's Society. She has publicly called for a four-week national access target for children and young people's mental health services and for a cross-government mental health strategy that links mental health to wider social determinants.

References

1. 1.Rebecca Gray | NHS Confederation — Confirms current role as Director of the Mental Health Network and career history including Maudsley Charity, The King's Fund, the Alzheimer's Society and healthcare regulators
2. 2.NHS Confederation's Mental Health Network appoints new director | NHS Confederation — Confirms appointment date (January 2025), background, and quotes from NHS Confederation chair and other leaders on appointment
3. 3.Maudsley Charity Chief Executive steps down – Maudsley Charity — Confirms Gray led Maudsley Charity since 2016 for almost nine years before joining the NHS Confederation
4. 4.Rebecca Gray | The King's Fund — Confirms role at The King's Fund joined from Monitor (NHS foundation trust regulator); prior six years at Healthcare Commission; head of press at Alzheimer's Society 1997–2001
5. 5.Mental health performance target needed to address 'appalling treatment gap' | The NHS Alliance

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking

Stated areas of expertise

• Mental health services policy
• Children and young people's mental health
• Mental health workforce and funding
• NHS provider sustainability
• Integrated and neighbourhood health
• Parity of esteem

Notable achievements

• Appointed Director of the NHS Confederation's Mental Health Network in January 2025, succeeding Sean Duggan OBE who led the network for six years. Source ↗
• Led Maudsley Charity as chief executive from 2016 for almost nine years, overseeing its position as the largest dedicated mental health fund in the UK. Source ↗
• Publicly called for a new four-week NHS mental health performance target for children and young people, following a major NHS Confederation conference for over 200 mental health leaders. Source ↗
• Welcomed the government's cross-government mental health strategy Call for Evidence, publicly urging that the strategy reflect NHS provider delivery and address access for all children and adults. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “Too often young people with mental illness end up going to hospital emergency departments and [are] facing very long waits in an inappropriate or even harmful setting. This is bad for patients and staff.”

  director of the NHS Alliance's mental health network · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Children in mental health crisis waiting up to three days in A&E for specialist bed in England ↗

• “It is vital that Jewish staff and patients feel safe at work, are able to practise and seek treatment without fear of prejudice or abuse, and are provided with the respect and dignity we all deserve.”

  director at the NHS Alliance · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · NHS to curb political symbols on uniforms after antisemitism report ↗

Source references

1. Children in mental health crisis waiting up to three days in A&E for specialist bed in Englandtheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. NHS to curb political symbols on uniforms after antisemitism reporttheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Staff pagehttps://www.nhsconfed.org/people/rebecca-gray
• Press office emailenquiries@nhsconfed.orgpublished here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.