Dr Allan Johnston

Practising at

Spire Leeds Hospital

Treatment information

Some of the principal treatments carried out by Dr Allan Johnston at Spire include:

Psychiatry

Other treatments

Professional profile

I am a consultant psychiatrist specialising in sports psychiatry.

I have recently been employed by the English Institute of Sport (EIS) as sports psychiatrist to the Mental Health Expert Panel (MHEP) supporting our Great Britain Olympic and Paralympic Athletes in preparation for the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.

The Bradford Bulls RLFC employed me as the world’s first Rugby League sports psychiatrist in 2012. I now work with athletes across a range of sports, dance and performance disciplines.

Since leaving the Bradford Bulls, as medical director and sports psychiatrist to Synergy Medicine Ltd I have developed an independent sports medicine service in Leeds that works with all levels of conditions and injuries in athletes. I work with athletes on all aspects of wellbeing and performance and how these interrelate. In addition I have been selected for a role with the UK Anti-Doping authority in the management of ADHD and Therapeutic Use Exemptions.

I am a co-founder of, and was recently elected to, the position of Deputy Chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists Sports and Exercise Psychiatry Special Interest Group - the Royal College’s fastest growing special interest group. I co-ordinate training for UK sports psychiatrists. With a strong passion for all sport, I work on a voluntary basis as sports psychiatrist and trustee to State of Mind Sport, a charity aiming to improve the mental health and wellbeing of athletes and their communities. In my NHS role I chaired the Derbyshire Suicide Prevention Strategy Group 2013-2018 and lead a range of innovations in the region including the development of our regional strategy, a greater involvement of service users in co-producing their own services, chairing Suicide Prevention conferences and World Suicide Prevention Day initiatives. Since 2015, over 3 successive years, suicide rates in Derbyshire have almost halved with reduced rates seen particularly in men. In 2018 our work with Public Health on training General Practitioners in Suicide Prevention strategies was nominated for a Health Service Journal (HSJ) award.

I am a qualified teacher-trainer and I am widely published in both Liaison & Sports Psychiatry.

Qualification and professional memberships

MBBS / London / 2002
Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery

MRCPsych / Royal College of Psychiatrists / 2006
Membership, Royal College of Psychiatrists

Cert Med ED (IU) / University of Dundee / 2008
Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education

Professional memberships

General Medical Council
British Medical Association
RCPsych

Professional leadership

Medical director, Synergy Medicare Ltd

Current NHS posts

Consultant psychiatrist, Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Private contact details