Roland Dix began his career in mental health as a Nursing Assistant in 1984. He qualified as an Enrolled Nurse in 1988 and became a Staff Nurse in 1992. In 1993, he was appointed Unit Manager and Clinical Nurse Specialist for the Greyfriars Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit. That same year, he began work as a Matron Manager and Research Consultant for Gloucestershire Health Authority, a role he held until 2000.
In 1996, alongside colleagues, Roland co-founded the National PICU Group, which later evolved into the National Association of Psychiatric Intensive Care Units (NAPICU). He remains a committed Executive Committee member and an active commentator on psychiatric intensive care both in the UK and internationally.
In 2000, Roland was appointed Consultant Nurse for Psychiatric Intensive Care and Secure Recovery. He was named a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of the West of England in 2001 and became the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Psychiatric Intensive Care. He was a major contributor to the 2002 National Minimum Standards for PICU and to both editions of the only international textbook on psychiatric intensive care.
Roland became an Approved Clinician in 2012 and was awarded the Royal College of Nursing Fellowship in 2014 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to mental health nursing. In 2022, he was appointed Honorary Associate Professor at Norwich Medical School.
He has published extensively on psychiatric intensive care, acute inpatient care, and related topics, and has served as an invited advisor to acute mental health services in several European countries, including Norway, Iceland, and the Netherlands.
