Claire Bethel was formerly deputy director in the Department of Health responsible for children and young people’s health and wellbeing, focusing most recently on children and young people’s mental health, leading to the development of the Future in Mind report and the first stage of its implementation. Prior to that, she was responsible for policy on social exclusion and the health aspects of interpersonal and public space violence, including work on domestic and sexual violence and abuse, gangs and knife crime and the prevention of violence.

In 2005, she helped to set up the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, where she became the first director of policy and research. Other work has included military health, the development of the Children, Young People’s and Maternity National Service Framework, and leading a primary care organisation in the NHS.

Since leaving the DoH in 2016, Claire has been consulting on a wide range of issues including the impact of interparental conflict, child sexual abuse and exploitation, and the children and young people’s mental health workforce.