Layla McCay

Layla McCay is Director of Policy at the NHS Confederation, leads the national Health and Care LGBTQ+ Leaders Network and has been recognised as one of the top 100 LGBTQ+ executives in the world.
 
A psychiatrist and founder of the Centre for Urban Design and Mental Health, Layla has previously worked for the NHS, the British Government’s Department of Health, the World Health Organisation and the World Bank. She has held academic roles in health policy at universities in the UK, US, Japan and Hong Kong. Her commentary on health policy features regularly in print and broadcast media, from The Financial Times to BBC's Question Time, Newsnight and Radio 4. Her book Restorative Cities: Urban Design for Mental Health and Wellbeing (Bloomsbury, 2021) was a finalist for the Great Places Book Award and was featured on BBC Radio 4’s Four Thought programme.
 
Layla is also an award-winning performance storyteller and founder of the show Perfect Liars Club in Washington, Tokyo and London. She writes the Reading Shoes blog, including the annual Layla’s Review of Books.