The North London Forensic Collaborative (NLFC) welcomed clinicians, researchers and partners from across England, to its Weight Management and Health Promotion in Forensic Services Conference on Friday 8 May 2026, hosted at St Pancras Hospital and online.

 The event brought together a wide range of multidisciplinary professionals to explore one of the most pressing challenges in forensic mental health: improving physical health outcomes and tackling obesity in secure care settings.

The highlight of the day was the launch of NLFC’s new Weight Management and Health Promotion Strategy, led by Dr Julie Evans, Consultant Clinical Psychologist. The strategy sets out a holistic, trauma-informed and person-centred vision for improving weight management and physical health across forensic services. 

Developed through extensive co-production with service users and staff across NLFC, the strategy focuses on embedding a culture where health promotion is everyone’s business, shifting away from short-term weight loss towards sustainable, long-term health and wellbeing. This work responds to a significant health inequality, as people in secure settings experience rates of obesity two to three times higher than the general population, driven by complex environmental, clinical and social factors. 

This inaugural conference featured a rich, varied programme of presentations with content designed to ensure attendees could engage with theoretical insights and practical solutions, that support immediate application in services. Key themes included; the role of nutrition and inflammation in mental health treatment, lived experience of obesity in forensic settings, an innovative step challenge project to increase physical activity, new research on the prevalence of obesity and diabetes in inpatient settings, weight management and personality disorders, and co-designed tools that support sensitive conversations about weight.

With a focus on a critically important but often under prioritised area in forensic psychiatry, the event received highly positive feedback. Participants valued the diversity and quality of speakers, the balance between research, theory and practical application with an opportunity to hear multidisciplinary perspectives.

One attendee described the event as “exactly what's needed and has been missing for such a long time in forensic settings.”

Another highlighted how the conference “combined the research base and practical application… on a centrally important issue in forensic psychiatry.” 

Dr Julie Evans said “This event bought together practical learning, research, frontline innovation and lived experience, to directly address how we approach weight management and consider how we support the physical health of people in our care. It reinforces our commitment to reducing health inequalities and embedding trauma-informed, person-centred approaches that make a meaningful difference to service users’ lives.”

This is a vital step in continuing to build momentum around physical health in forensic settings. As the new Weight Management Strategy moves into implementation, NLFC is well positioned to lead system-wide improvements, ensuring that physical health and wellbeing are embedded at the heart of forensic mental health services across North London.