Tom PollardSector leader

Biography

Tom Pollard is Head of Policy, Campaigns and Public Affairs at Mind, the national mental health charity in England and Wales, and also works shifts as an NHS mental health social worker. He spent over six years in Mind's Policy and Campaigns unit from 2010, including roles as Manager of the Social Inclusion and Rights Team and Co-Chair of the Disability Benefits Consortium, before a bespoke 18-month secondment at the Department for Work and Pensions as Senior Mental Health Policy Adviser from 2016. After leaving DWP he worked as an independent consultant and Head of Social Policy at the New Economics Foundation before returning to Mind in his current role. He is publicly known for arguing that the current mental health service model requires fundamental reform, and for championing a 'Same-Day Open Access' model of community mental health support in England, as well as for his critical analysis of the DWP's institutional capacity to support disabled people into work.

References

1. 1.Tom Pollard – New Statesman author page — Confirms current role as Head of Policy, Campaigns and Public Affairs at Mind and NHS mental health social worker status
2. 2.A cup of tea can determine whether people get the help they need – New Statesman, July 2026 — Confirms current role, Mind's Same-Day Open Access campaign position, and his NHS social worker work alongside his Mind role
3. 3.Written evidence from Tom Pollard (DEG0003) – UK Parliament — Documents career history at Mind from 2010, DWP secondment, Co-Chair of Disability Benefits Consortium, and policy expertise on social security and mental health
4. 4.Pathways from Poverty: A case for institutional reform – Demos, 2019 — Evidences his 18-month DWP secondment role as Senior Mental Health Policy Adviser and his published analysis of the department
5. 5.

Expertise

Cited on

• Hospital discharge / bed-blocking
• Mental health

Stated areas of expertise

• Mental health service reform
• Same-Day Open Access mental health model
• Social security and disability benefits policy
• Mental health and employment
• Mental health workforce and access
• Poverty and mental health

Notable achievements

• Authored the Demos paper 'Pathways from Poverty: A case for institutional reform' following his DWP secondment, which the Guardian's Social Policy Editor described as 'hugely influential in helping to shape the debate about shortcomings in the system of disability benefits'. Source ↗
• Gave written and oral evidence to Parliament on the disability employment gap and the DWP's capacity to support disabled people, drawing on his experience as a Senior Mental Health Policy Adviser on secondment at DWP. Source ↗
• Wrote for the New Statesman setting out Mind's case for a 'Same-Day Open Access' model of mental health support in England, as part of Mind's public campaign ahead of the cross-government mental health strategy. Source ↗
• Served as Co-Chair of the Disability Benefits Consortium and Policy Chair of the Disability Charities Consortium while at Mind. Source ↗

What they’ve said

• “It's clear staff are trying to deliver high-quality mental health care, but growing demand, higher caseloads and administrative burden means this is increasingly a struggle.”

  mental health charity Mind · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Four-fifths of UK mental health nurses say their workload is unmanageable ↗

• “The government set out a welcome ambition to move towards a more open access model of support through neighbourhood mental health centres. But if funding for staff and services is being cut, meaningful improvements to the mental health system will be impossible.”

  head of policy, public affairs and campaigns at Mind · Mental health · 12 Aug 2026 · Millions in England face longer waits for mental health care as NHS providers plan cuts ↗

Source references

1. Four-fifths of UK mental health nurses say their workload is unmanageabletheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
2. Millions in England face longer waits for mental health care as NHS providers plan cutstheguardian.com · 12 Aug 2026

Contact & links

• Xhttps://x.com/pollardtompublished here ↗
• LinkedInhttps://uk.linkedin.com/in/tom-pollard84
• Staff pagehttps://www.mind.org.uk/media-centre/media-team/
• Press office emailmedia@mind.org.ukpublished here ↗
• Press office phone020 8522 1743published here ↗

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