Dr Blerta Cenko

Dr Cenko is dual trained to consultant level in General Adult and Old Age psychiatry, with additional experience in Addiction and Rehabilitation psychiatry. She currently works as a consultant psychiatrist in inpatient Old Age and Liaison settings within Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust in London. She is the lead consultant for the Trust's electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) team and is also trained in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). She has over 10 years' psychiatric experience in the NHS and educational contexts.

Dr Cenko obtained her medical degree with Honours in her home country of Albania, before working as a General Practitioner there for three years. As a psychiatric trainee, she completed a Master's degree (with Merit) in Dementia: Causes, Treatment and Research at University College London (UCL) which first fostered a passion for academia. She remains actively involved in research and regularly contributes to psychiatric research published in international journals. She also takes a keen interest in nurturing junior colleagues' development and maintaining a supported and educational ward environment for UCL medical students and North Central London trainees she supervises. Dr Cenko is also interested in population-level mental health care and has collaborated with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Vision on public health projects, which have afforded unique opportunities to consider and practice psychiatry cross-culturally. Through these efforts, Dr Cenko has received a multitude of awards from both patient bodies and different organisations.

Dr Cenko is commended by patients, their families, and colleagues for her compassionate and holistic approach to patient care. She is passionate about delivering the best evidence-based care in a psychologically informed way. Effective communication is therefore at the heart of Dr Cenko's approach to psychiatry; she ensures that complex medical theories and treatments are carefully communicated to, and thoroughly discussed with, both patients and their families. To this end, Dr Cenko is fluent in English and Albanian and is happy to consult patients in any of these languages.