Digital tools and techniques in community settings

Dr Ruth Allen has been Chief Executive of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) since April 2016.  Previous roles include Director of Social Work at South West London & St Georges' Mental Health NHS Trust, researcher with St George’s University of London focused on mental health and domestic violence and Head of Social Care Hertfordshire Mental Health Trust. She started her social work career in East London in health, social care and homelessness services.

She has extensive experience in organisational consultancy, professional and leadership development particularly in social work, integration and mental health. She is Trustee of the ‘ThinkAhead’ training programme for mental health social workers

She has a longstanding interest in the development and embedding of digital tools and technology in health and care. She has published on this subject and worked on the recent NHS Digital and Health Education England (HEE) project on digital capabilities for social workers. She is a member of the HEE ‘Building a Digitally Ready Workforce’ Board.

Dr Allen also has a particular interest and experience in personalisation and co-production with people using services, family members and carers. She is currently providing social work expertise on the establishment of the new Personalisation Institute in healthcare.

Dr Allen holds BA Hons in Geography from Oxford and a CQSW and Master's degree in Social Work and a Professional Doctorate in Education, from the University of Sussex. 

Ming has over 20 years experience in managing and delivering large scale change involving implementation of new operating models in complex and challenging environments. 

She is the National Director for Data and Analytics, NHS England and Improvement, with responsibility for the national team of multi-disciplinary analysts, data services and digital product development teams.