Mike Ward is a Senior Consultant at Alcohol Change UK and has worked in the field for over 30 years. He comes from a social work background and was working in alcohol outreach in the 1980s in London.   He founded and led Surrey Alcohol and Drug Advisory Service which still exists 31 years later. He was formerly Commissioning Manager (Mental Health & Substance Misuse) for Surrey Social Services.

He is now a full-time consultant and trainer. Mike has worked in the substance misuse/mental health field for over thirty-five years. He wrote the Department of Health/NTA guidelines on running drug death review systems and is one of the two key drivers behind the Blue Light project.  He is the author of two safeguarding adult reviews and co-wrote the ground breaking Learning From Tragedies report, which has highlighted the fact that the role of alcohol is being “missed or poorly managed” in the care of vulnerable adults, contributing to their deaths