Shapero, Jonathan

A “brief” professional biography for Jonathan Shapero

Dr Jonathan Shapero has been a Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist for 28 years. He trained in Birmingham under Professor Bob Bluglass and during those three years had experience of working in 2 interim secure units (precursors to the modern medium secure units) and in open and community conditions. He also worked in various West Midland Prisons. His first Consultant job was in Arnold Lodge Medium Secure Unit in Leicester where he worked from 1986-1996. For most of that time he and one other consultant were responsible for almost all the forensic psychiatry for the whole of the Trent Region (4.5 million population), and ran a community forensic mental health service in Leicestershire as well.

In 1996 Dr Shapero moved to the Independent Sector, working in Medium and Low Secure wards from 1996-2002 at St Andrew’s Hospital, Northampton. In 2002 he returned to the NHS and worked at Marlborough House Medium Secure Unit, Milton Keynes until his semi-retirement in 2013. From 2002-2005 he was the only forensic psychiatrist providing a community mental health service to Northamptonshire, and he then had a similar role for Milton Keynes area. In 2013 he took a part-time post at Chadwick Lodge, where he is currently responsible for a 14 bedded Low Secure ward which is always full.

In addition to the above, Dr Shapero has extensive experience of working in a prison environment. In 1984-6 he worked as a part-time medical officer at HMP Birmingham. As part of his training between 1983-6 he also worked as Visiting Trainee Psychiatrist in various West Midland Prisons, including Birmingham, Brockhill Young Offenders’, Long Lartin, and Featherstone. This stimulated a life-long professional interest in prison mental health, and as a Consultant he has worked as Visiting psychiatrist for 24 years (until 2011) at Glen Parva Young Offenders’ in Leicester, HMP Gartree, HMP Littlehey, and also spent a total of 9 years at HMP Woodhill. For one year of that time he was responsible for the psychiatric care of the prisoners in the Woodhill CSC unit (the most secure part of the prison estate in the country).

Dr Shapero also has extensive experience of preparing psychiatric medico-legal reports for Courts and Tribunals. His other areas of special interest include the psychiatric aspects of homicide, problems of adult survivors of childhood abuse, adults with ADHD, and the care of long-term and chronic forensic patients.

From the inception of the MAPPPs up to the present day, Dr Shapero has been a Core Member of first the Northamptonshire, and later the Milton Keynes MAPPA panels. One of his regrets is that he never found the time to do any research during his busy consultant career. He currently has no cats, but hopes to address this soon.