Steven Richards

Steven is a Director of Edge and has worked in the mental health field for over 20 years, both for the NHS and voluntary sector. He has been an in-patient advocate for Mind and as an advocate Steven represented directly before the Court of Protection. Steven was a Mental Health Act Reviewer with the Care Quality Commission for over 10 years and also worked with the CQC as a specialist advisor on the Mental Capacity Act and DoLS. 

He delivers training on the Mental Capacity Act and Mental Health Act across England and Wales to health and social care professionals. Steven has experience of training a wide variety of services including local authorities, ICBs, NHS Trusts, the police, hospices and prison health services. He has spoken at a series of Health Education England conferences on the MCA at the end of life and delivered training on the draft Liberty Protection Safeguards bill to members of the House of Lords.

Steven is co-author of three books:

• Working with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 – 4th edition (ISBN: 978-0-9552349-5-8) 

• Working with the Mental Health Act – 4th edition (ISBN: 978-0-9552349-4-1) 

• Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) Handbook – 1st edition (ISBN: 978-0-9931324-0-7) 

He also co-authors several wall charts on the Acts and an App on the Mental Capacity Act (see below).

Wall Charts all available from www.amazon.co.uk or www.bookswise.org.uk

• Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (co-author)

• Mental Health Act 1983 (co-author)

• Mental Capacity Act 2005 (co-author)

• Consent and the Mental Capacity Act (co-author)

Apps

The Mental Capacity Act (App) available from the App Store or Google Play

What people say about Steven:

"Steven is so good at what he does - thoroughly engaging throughout and explained all the content in detail. A lot of good discussion during the training. I now have a good understanding of the upcoming change from DoLS to LPS. The slides are packed with useful information that I will be using again. Thanks again Steven & Edge!"

"Steven Richards is a brilliant trainer who holds your attention and explains DoLS in an easy to understand format. The best course I have been on in a long time." 

"Thank you for delivering such a well-structured and engaging BIA training session. I found the content to be exceptionally clear and informative, with a strong emphasis on practical application. The use of recent and relevant case law really helped to contextualise the complexities of the role and brought the legal principles to life. It was particularly helpful to see how these cases influence everyday decision-making and assessments. The interactive format was also a real strength it encouraged thoughtful discussion and reflection, and made the learning experience both dynamic and accessible. The clarity of the materials and examples used ensured that key concepts were well understood and retained. Overall, it was a highly valuable session, and I appreciate the effort that went into making it both legally robust and practically useful."“Very entertaining & interactive trainer – good use of different presenting techniques to make a difficult subject fun. Thank you”

“Fabulous – this will be so useful and Steven presents the information in an engaging style : ) ”

“Excellent as usual – very informative and interesting”

“Steven is as thought provoking and engaging as ever”

“The delivery of the material was excellent which was important to my role as a BIA. I have gained more knowledge and awareness. My practice will definitely improve”