Clinical Directors

Rajeev is a practising clinician and medical leader with over 25 years’ experience in primary and community care. He is passionate about transformational change in healthcare - from frontline clinical practice and whole‑system delivery to influencing national and international policy.

At East London Foundation Trust, Rajeev serves as Clinical Director for Community Health Services across Newham and Bedfordshire. He also chairs committees for the Department of Health and Social Care and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Centre for National Clinical Guidelines. His previous roles include specialist adviser to the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). Rajeev champions high‑quality, patient-centred care, and the strengthening of integrated services for the Trust's diverse communities."
 

Rafik joined the Trust in 2001 as a consultant child psychiatrist at The Coborn Centre for Adolescent Mental Health. After 5 years he developed the Service from an interim service to a substantive national centre for Adolescent In-Patient Mental Health Service including PICU which was the first NHS Adolescent PICU in England. He then became the ACD for In-Patient Services before taking the ACD role for ELFT CAMHS NCEL Provider Collaborative in 2021, including the CAMHS alternative to admission services.

In 2023, Rafik was promoted as Clinical Director for both ELFT Children's Services (including, CAMHS, In-Patients, CEDS, DBT, Crisis & HTT) and the NCEL CAMHS provider collaborative which commissions in-patient provision for adolescents across NCEL.

In August 2024, Rafik focused his Clinical Director Role to ELFT Children's Services and offers line management to All Children's Services Lead Consultants and medical ACDS in the Directorate. In March 2026 he will be the Named Safeguarding Doctor for ELFT Children's Service Directorate. 

Rafik also has a small role as a member of the national Clinical Reference Group for CAMHS in-patients for NHSE specially for Enhanced Pathways.

Julie was appointed as Clinical Director for ELFT's Children's Services in September 2023 with a focus on Community CAMHS services and Specialist Children and Young People Services (SCYPS). She works in conjunction with her Clinical Director colleague Dr Rafik Refaat to provide joined up clinical strategic oversight and integrated service development for child centred care pathways.

Julie joined ELFT in September 2017 as the Psychological Therapies Lead for City and Hackney CAMHS where she also held the role of Clinical Team Lead for the Neurodevelopmental Team. She was promoted to Deputy Clinical Director in March 2020. She has over 20 years’ experience working in the NHS in a range of clinical and profession leadership roles across specialist CAMHS clinical areas.

Julie trained in Australia as a Clinical Psychologist and worked in voluntary sector services in rural/remote areas as well as statewide youth mental health services before arriving in London in 2003.