Since qualifying as an occupational therapist in 1998 from York St John’s University, Heather has worked in adult social care for five years, followed by six years working for the NHS providing re-ablement to patients in intermediate care settings who required treatment after trauma, surgery or illness. 

Since 2009, Heather has worked within an NHS community health trust, as a senior occupational therapist in a multi-disciplinary falls prevention service, building extensive knowledge. She is able to complete detailed assessments and recommendations on practical strategies to reduce risk of falls, maintain bone health, maximise independence in daily activities, reduce carer needs and increase confidence with mobility both indoors and outdoors to enable individuals to access the wider community.

Heather has worked with people who have a wide range of health conditions, advising on equipment and adaptations to the home environment; addressing fatigue management and energy conservation and also using health coaching techniques to enable self-management of conditions.

Amy qualified in 2004 from Coventry University. She has 14 years clinical experience working within both health and social care statutory services and has worked within the private sector since. She also has experience working in the field of personal independence payment, local authority parking and concessionary travel for both physical and hidden disabilities.

Amy works with clients of all ages and varying health needs, predominantly those with physical health conditions but often additional needs such as sensory, mental health or cognitive impairment. She has specialist skills and knowledge relating to equipment needs, tele-care, minor and major adaptation, specialist equipment, complex manual handling, rehousing needs, and new-build housing

As with all our therapists, Amy is registered with the Health Care Professions Council and is a member of the British Association of Occupational Therapists. She is also a member of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Specialist sections – Independent Practice and Housing.

Linda has been an occupational therapist for over 20 years and during this time amassed a great deal of practical experience in a variety of settings including housing, moving and handling, and elderly mental health.  

Linda has championed occupational therapy practice at a regional and national level;  led, managed and developed teams and has strong mentoring and coaching skills.

She has held roles as a Clinical Advisor and Lead, developing and implementing processes and procedures to deliver service improvements.  She is an excellent communicator and delivers therapy and training with clarity and conviction.

More recently Linda has been responsible for product innovation and development with equipment manufacturers.  She is a creative problem solver and loves to innovate.

Lynette qualified as an occupational therapist from Coventry University in 2009 and is a member of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists, registered with the Health Care Professionals Council and a member of RCOT Specialist Sections of Independent Practice; Housing; and Children, Young People and Families.  Her areas of expertise include housing adaptations, home equipment, paediatric functional seating and manual handling.

Since qualifying, Lynette has honed skills in completing comprehensive, high-quality assessments in the home environment. Working with adults, children and their support systems she is able discuss an individual’s wants, needs and desires to improve and maintain their health and well-being.  She is skilled in providing a range of interventions including: equipment, assistive technology, care package reviews, advice and home adaptations.

Alongside equipment and adaptations Lynette is proficient in assessing the need for paediatric, complex paediatric and bariatric functional seating. She also has a ROSPA level 4 qualification in single-handed care manual handling.

Lynette has developed and delivered training courses in trusted assessor provision and is also trained as a practice educator for Coventry University.

In her spare time Lynette is a volunteer gymnastics coach.  She also provides training for midwives and GPs around baby loss and bereavement care as well as fundraising for Birmingham Women’s Hospital. Additionally, she sits on boards for a family run engineering business and the woodland house building project for Birmingham women’s hospital.

Sue has 25 years experience as an OT and her experiences have allowed her to amass a broad range of assessment and treatment skills across many specialities including neurology, orthopaedics, lower limb amputation, dementia and mental health.

Sue is familiar with managing complex multifaceted situations relating to manual handling, equipment provision, major adaptations, specialist equipment and housing.  Sue has experience in situations involving mental capacity issues and supporting best interests decisions.  She is versed in carrying out immediate need assessments following workplace and road traffic accidents, supporting case managers in manual handling training and advice to support support staff.

Sue has contributed to single carer projects, the All Wales review of blue badge assessments and the compliance with the Local Authority Verification Toolkit.  She regularly undertakes equipment reviews and enjoys researching new products, challenging standard provision guidelines to find appropriate equipment or clients by providing evidence-based clinical reasoning.

Caroline qualified in 1985 and has worked extensively in social care and housing adaptations in a variety of settings. She is an experienced leader and manager who is able to work with complex cases with professionalism and autonomy. Over the last 8 years she has worked in independent practice, specialising in working with children and families. This has led to a variety roles both in the private voluntary and statutory services sectors.

Caroline runs a charity that supports children with special needs in India, and trains internationally in developing play skills.

In 2019 she became a qualified sensory integration practitioner with Ulster University and uses these skills to work with children and families both at home, school and in an SI Clinic.

Caroline has a passion for working with children who have experienced early years trauma and supports parents and carers with sensory based adaptations and strategies that lead to achievable “fun” and “functional” goals.

Caroline is registered with the Health Care Professional Council.

Albana qualified in 2014 and has since has worked in social care settings, predominantly with children and young people aged 0-25 years. She has also experience working with adults over 18 years in a fast response team, assessing adults in their home environment to assess functional abilities.

Albana is a senior occupational therapist working in the community with paediatrics and young adults diagnosed with complex health needs, profound and substantial disabilities such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, microcephaly, gastrostomy, scoliosis, muscular dystrophy, autism, global developmental delay and more. Her areas of expertise include specialist equipment for bathing, toileting, bedroom, stairs, specialist seating and optimising a safe home environment. She specialises in minor and major adaptations, new builds, working with local authorities and housing associations. Albana has extensive experience alongside social workers, education and healthcare professionals.

Albana is well versed in equipment provision and MDT working to provide packages of care, adaptations and rehousing needs. She is a highly passionate and enthusiastic OT who seeks to develop a therapeutic and person-centred rapport with her clients.

Emma qualified in 1994 with a BSc. (Hons) in Occupational Therapy. She has also completed an MSc. in Health Ergonomics, alongside post graduate qualifications in both teaching and management.

Her first 10 years were working in housing and adaptations, eventually progressing to managing an older persons’ service. She then moved into higher education as a senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, teaching on the BSc and MSc pre- registration occupational therapy courses. Emma was also the programme lead for the MSc vocational rehabilitation course for approximately 10 years. During her time at Sheffield Hallam University she was awarded an Inspirational Teaching Award and an Outstanding Student Support Award, both nominated by her students. As well as teaching students, she contributed to a significant amount of external training with outside partners, including the DWP.

Having moved to part time working following the birth of her two children, Emma dipped her toe into the world of private occupational therapy and found that the two roles of theory and practice complemented each other well. She has developed a speciality in housing/adaptations and vocational rehabilitation/occupational health to a point where, in 2018 she left Sheffield Hallam University after 13 years and now works full time as an independent occupational therapist.

She is passionate about good ergonomic design to maximise usability and engagement. Her masters research looked at what users think of the appearance of assistive technology (and concluded that people want it to look less “disabled”) thus she continues to strive for inclusive and beautiful designs when working with clients who require adaptations and equipment.

Emma continues to teach on the vocational rehabilitation course at Sheffield Hallam University and provides external training courses on workplace wellbeing. She also supervises a number of occupational therapists in the private sector.

Michele graduated in 1984 in occupational therapy, subsequently gaining qualifications in business management and health studies, the latter at MSc level. Her specialities include accessible housing and rehabilitation and has worked as a senior and head occupational therapist in a variety of organisations as well as in a self-employed capacity.

Between 2007 – 2009 Michele held the position of Vice Chair to the COTSS (housing) and for many years she has been heavily involved in helping organise their conferences along with presenting and holding workshops on a variety of housing based topics all over the UK.

Michele has also attended the House of Lords to participate in DFG adaptations think tank and is an ongoing member of the Age Friendly Manchester Design Team.

Meera qualified as an occupational therapist having studied at London South Bank University within allied health sciences. She has 9 years relevant clinical experience both in health and social care services working in rehabilitation, providing bespoke tailor-made treatments to those who have been affected by an acute disability. We consider Meera as one of our housing specialists although she is great all-rounder and very popular associate.

Her particular areas of expertise include major adaptations and design, new-build housing and specialist equipment within an adapted property. Meera’s experiences enable her to comprehensively identify areas of functional difficulty within the home environment and she is committed to maintaining a person’s independence at home. Her experience with equipment and adaptations allow her to work very well with housing professionals, especially for those concerned with the adult and elderly groups.

Other areas of interest for Meera are palliative and end of life clients who require immediate and prioritised assistance to ensure their safety and comfort for their last days at home. She also has a keen interest in seating & posture, manual handling and bariatric care.

Meera also has experience with a broad range of specialist equipment providing the most suitable item to the need of the individual and ensuring the environment meets the need of the client and their families.

Stuart is one of our paediatric specialists. He graduated in 2009 with a BSc in occupational therapy from Northumbria University following the completion of his first degree in sports studies. His experience is predominantly paediatric and of a neurological nature although he also has 5 years’ experience working in adult acute hospital and community based settings.

In his present role Stuart assesses and manages complex health, social, and educational needs of children and adults with a range of neurological, non-neurological and sensory conditions.

Stuart is an expert in postural management assessment and intervention including specialist seating, bespoke wheelchairs, dynamic movement orthoses, second skin, and sleep systems. He enjoys using and developing adaptive switch and eye gaze technologies to support access to activity and enable functional independence. Stuart also has a particular interest in environmental assessments using interventions such as equipment provision and adaptations to meet the complex needs of others.

He is well-versed in assessments such as the Movement ABC, Sensory Profile, DTVP-2 and Beery VMI. These assessments allow him to provide effective interventions when treating clients with fine motor, visuomotor, bilateral coordination, balance, gross motor and sensory processing deficits.

Stuart’s directed therapy sessions focus on assessment of priority areas of need and implementation of treatment plans, enabling independence whilst promoting positive health and well-being outcomes. He can provide EHC/ETCH reports, including setting short, medium, and long term goals to support child development and transition into adulthood.

Stuart is on the funding adjudication board for The Sunshine Fund ran by Newcastle Evening Chronicle, allocating funding for life-changing specialist equipment. Additionally he works as a National, European, and International Medical and Sports Classifier of Powerchair Football. This involves assessment of the ability levels of the athletes to enable fair and equitable access to the sport. Stuart is also a member of the Children, Young People and Families Specialist Section (CYPFSS), and the Northern Region Paediatric Interest Group (NRPIG).