Dr Asif Bachlani

Dr Bachlani works at the Priory Woking Hospital as an Adult Consultant Psychiatrist and Clinical Lead for the Autism(ASC) pathway.

Dr Bachlani was awarded UK Psychiatrist of the year by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in 2024.  This was in recognition of his work around digital psychiatry, population mental health, voluntary sectorwork and Neurodevelopmental disorders.

Dr Asif Bachlani initially joined the Priory Group in 2019 as Hospital Medical Director for Priory Hospital Woking, Lifeworks Hospital and Oxford Wellbeing Centre.  Dr Bachlani was Priory’s National Clinical Director for Priory NHS Acute and PICU network of 25 Hospitals between 2020-2022. Asif’s main responsibilities in this role included Delivering high quality patient care, Patient Safety Quality Improvement and Digital Transformation. Dr Bachlani stepped back from these roles in 2022 to focus on his outpatient practice and to pursue his interest in neurodiversity.

In 2022, Asif set up the first diagnostic pathway for autism within Priory’s private healthcare services.

Asif has held various managerial and digital positions in NHS and independent sector including Clinical Director, NHS London Clinical Lead for Mental Health Outcomes and Chief Clinical Information Officer.  Asif was most recently an Associate Non-Executive Director (NED) for Kent and Medway Mental Health Trust (2022-2024) with his portfolios being quality improvement, data and digital transformation and patient outcomes.

In 2023, Asif became Vice-Chair of the NHS Benchmarking Mental Health, Autism and Learning Disability Reference Group.

Asif has been actively involved within the Royal College and has been part of the RCPsych General Adult Faculty for the past 10 years with his last role being Treasurer. Asif is also a committee member of the Digital Special Interest Group and is Co-lead for the Digital Module of RCPsych Leadership and Management Fellowship scheme for Future Consultants and Speciality Doctors.

In recognition of Asif’s commitment to promoting excellence for patients and field of psychiatry, he was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (FRCPsych) in 2019.

Dr Bachlani graduated from St Bartholomews and Royal London Medical School in 2002 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) as well as a BSc in Clinical Medicine. He went on to complete his psychiatric training in Hampshire and Dorset, becoming a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych) in 2008. In 2011, he completed his CCT in General Adult Psychiatry with a sub-specialty focus on Liaison Psychiatry.