Dr. Gertrude Seneviratne (OBE, FRCPsych) has been Registrar of the Royal College Psychiatrists since 2020. In this role she has overall responsibility for policy, public education, revalidation and membership engagement.
She qualified as a medical practitioner in 1992, having trained at St Bartholomew’s Medical School, London; she completed her psychiatric training both at St. Bartholomew’s and later, as a research registrar at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN).
Dr. Seneviratne has been a consultant adult and perinatal psychiatrist at South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust since 2002. She is also the Clinical Director for the Psychological Medicine Clinical Academic Group and Lewisham Directorate at the Trust, supporting the clinical, academic and educational aspects of a range of services: general adult, liaison, crisis, rehabilitation services and specialist services: Neuropsychiatry, Eating disorders, Perinatal.
She has been an active educator over the years and with colleagues, has published/disseminated numerous research papers, particularly in the area of perinatal mental health. She has collaborated on a range of activities including service development, the use of mother and infant interaction videos, service evaluation, quality improvement and outcomes research. She has held national leadership and management roles; she is a current member and previous vice-chair of the National Clinical Reference Group, NHS England; Chair of The Perinatal Faculty, Royal College Psychiatrists (2016-2020).
In 2019, she was awarded an Order of the British Empire for services to Perinatal Psychiatry and the President’s medal of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
In 2023, Trudi was appointed to an expert Advisory Group that supports The Princess of Wales’ work with the Royal Foundation Centre of Early Childhood.
She enjoys the arts as a way of relaxing particularly music and painting and actively promotes the importance of arts therapies as therapeutic modalities.
