About Us

Welcome to the General Services Association Website. The GSA is an association of tutors. The GSA is company limited by guarantee and has been delivering training in the prevention and management of violence and aggression in health and social care since the mid 1990s. We are mainly based in healthcare and have a number of independent tutors. We have tutors throughout the United Kingdom and Eire but we also have tutors overseas. We have nearly 700 registered members. Tutor courses are run throughout the UK and Eire. They are run by a group of 30 senior tutors who have all graduated to this level following the fulfilment of a number of very exacting criteria. We hold an annual conference at venues throughout the UK. Conferences have been held in Newcastle, Edinburgh and York in recent years. We have explored subjects ranging from governmental initiatives to the experiences of service users. Throughout the rest of the website you will be able to explore the approaches we use to help prevent and manage aggression in the workplace. This website is designed in a way that you can understand how we work and how to become a tutor.

Meet The Directors

MARK BOND email MARK BOND

i hold a violence reduction degree and numerous teaching qualifications. I have been working in mental health for nearly 30 years. I trained as a GSA Tutor in 2004, became a Senior Tutor in 2010 and a director since 2011.

Lilias Coyne email Lilias Coyne

Lilias is from a nursing background, specialising initially in orthopaedics and then moving to Mental Health for the majority of her clinical career. She has been a GSA Tutor since 2002 and a Senior Tutor since 2010. Lilias joined the board of directors in 2011. She was a Violence and Aggression Prevention Advisor for NHS Highland but retired December 2022 My main task on behalf of the GSA is to organise and co-ordinate the GSA National Conference.

Robin Green email Robin Green

Terry Heenan email Terry Heenan

Terry has been training tutors from an extensive range of backgrounds for more than 20 years. He has a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the factors relating to violence and aggression in secure environments. Terry has been the Management of Violence and Aggression Director for Partnerships in Care for the past eight years. He has been a GSA Directors since 2002 and has been a senior tutor since 1997. Terry has led the development of the Core Curriculum of techniques.

Sam Place email Sam Place

GSA Tutor since 2011 GSA Senior Tutor since 2022 OD Staff Experience Support and Improvement Lead Personal Safety Tutor and Project Support Officer Occupational Therapy Assistant - Older adults inpatient mental health and dementia Senior Support Worker - Rehabilitation Senior Support Worker - Adult mental health inpatient

Khoosh Seewooruttun email Khoosh Seewooruttun

Jan Shand email Jan Shand

Jan is a retired Registered Mental Health and General Nurse with 38 years experience in the NHS, holding a variety of Senior Nursing posts, mainly in Challenging Behaviour and Acute Psychiatric Admissions where she developed her interest in Prevention & Management of Violence & Aggression. She was asked to set up the Prevention & Management of Violence & Aggression Training and Advisory Service for NHS Lanarkshire in 1999 and managed this department until her retirement in 2011. Jan became an GSA Tutor in 1999, a Senior Tutor in 2004, a Director in 2012, Deputy General Secretary in 2015 and General Secretary in 2018.