Vicky Gayle
Journalist
Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Vicky Gayle is a reporter with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (TBIJ) in its Bureau Local team, which focuses on investigating systemic inequalities with a collaborative, community-led approach. Vicky’s reporting has covered health inequalities for children and adults with disabilities, and migrants; touching on social care, access to primary care, housing, and the energy crisis.
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/
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Journalist
Bureau of Investigative Journalism
Anita Mottram
Principal Occupational Therapist
Kirklees Council
Anita Mottram is a qualified Occupational Therapist with 34 years’ experience of working, predominantly across housing and social care services. She is currently Principal Occupational Therapist for Kirklees Council, Chair of the Yorkshire and Humber POT network and a member of both the national Health and Care Advisory Forum and Local Authority OT taskforce.
She has a MSc in Professional Leadership and is a staunch advocate of integrated, collaborative practice, completing her PhD in exploring the components of interprofessional collaboration and how these are successfully created and sustained.
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Principal Occupational Therapist
Kirklees Council
Clare Barber
Director
Trusted Assessing and Care Training
With over 20 years experience working in the health and social care sector, Clare started her career running care services and managing quality through assessments, training and support of care staff. After qualifying as an OT, Clare spent years working in local authority, NHS trusts and the not-for-profit sector before finding her passion. Clare has spent the last 8 years designing and implementing Trusted Assessor training and was responsible for creating the national qualifications used today.
http://www.trustedassessing.com
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Director
Trusted Assessing and Care Training
Lucy Leonard
Director
The OT Service
Qualified to Master’s level, Lucy graduated from Sheffield Hallam University in 1999 and worked in acute mental health as well as rehabilitation for people with enduring mental health problems. She then went on to work in a community setting where she developed extensive skills in equipment and adaptations for adults with complex, long-term and neurological conditions. In more recent years Lucy has worked as a clinical specialist Occupational Therapist and now holds the position of Clinical Director of The OT Service. As well as carrying a caseload of clients with complex needs, Lucy provides advice, guidance and support to the 70 associate occupational therapists that work with The OT Service across the UK. Lucy is passionate about what occupational therapy can achieve and ensures all reports and intervention provided by The OT Service is quality reviewed and occupation focused. Lucy is known for ability to build trusting relationships with clients, colleagues and external organisations.
Lucy works with local authorities, NHS organisations and Integrated Care Boards to assist in providing resources to reduce waiting lists and provides guidance on implementation of legislation to support people to live independently.
Lucy is an accomplished public speaker on occupational therapy issues, providing webinars, presentations and delivering bespoke training across the UK. Lucy has delivered lectures on integrated working and has spoken to academics at Sheffield Hallam on integration to support their new ‘integrated curriculum’ and was subsequently invited as the Keynote Speaker at the Inter-professional Education Conference. Lucy has appeared on BBC’s ‘Breakfast’ television to discuss innovative practice and has been interviewed on Radio 4’s ‘World at One’ regarding integrated working. She is an external examiner and guest lecturer at Sheffield Hallam and Salford Universities.
https://www.theotservice.co.uk/
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Director
The OT Service
Adam Ferry
Director
The OT Service
Graduating in 2007 with an Occupational Therapy BSc, Adam worked in the NHS until he left in 2018 to work full-time in the private sector as a Director of The OT Service, although there was a two - year period when these roles overlapped.
Whilst in the NHS Adam worked in a range of clinical areas initially but developed a special interest predominantly in emergency care, then neurological rehabilitation as a senior therapist. In the final 3 years of NHS employment Adam managed acute and rehabilitation services (including elderly care and neurological rehabilitation) across four in-patient sites.
Over recent years Adam has continued to develop a clinical reputation within neurological rehabilitation and falls, holding a complex caseload supporting case managers and their clients to maximise independence and recovery. He has developed a reputation for his ability to efficiently assess functional needs and develop client-centred treatment packages with effective outcomes. The clinical level of Adam’s work demonstrates his ability to assess the relationship between the person and their environment in high pressured environments where appropriate clinical reasoning with up-to-date evidence base are essential.
It is within commercial consultancy that Adam has developed his national and international profile, being responsible for development of The OT Show CPD programme as well as expert consultancy for high profile companies such as AKW, Closomat, Invacare, Mangar International, Repose Furniture and Abacus Healthcare.
https://www.theotservice.co.uk/
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Director
The OT Service
Kate Sheehan
Director and Occupational Therapist
The OT Service
Kate Sheehan is a well-respected Occupational Therapist, with 36 years of clinical experience, having graduated from the Derby School of Occupational Therapy in 1987. Kate is one of the Directors of The OT Service, which provides Occupational Therapy to individuals, case managers, solicitors, and consultancy to companies on the needs of the disabled people and 50+ market. Her specialist area of practice is accessible housing design, championing the need to understand the meaning of home to an individual and how poorly designed modifications can have a significant impact the well-being of our clients.
Kate has been an active member of the Royal College of Occupational Therapy (RCOT) and the RCOTSS-Housing group since its formation, having held posts on the NEC including Chair and has used this platform to develop close links within government to enable her to advocate on the benefits of occupational therapy in housing and the wider built environment.
To this day she continues to work with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the development of an accessible built environment and co-authored the Wheelchair Housing Design Guide for the Centre for Accessible Environments, publication in March 2018, supported by the then Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government. Kate and The OT Service is presently involved in the newly funded research project into wheelchair space standards to inform the revised Part M of the Building Regulations.
Kate was awarded a Fellowship from the RCOT in 2022 for her outstanding work in the field of occupational therapy.
https://www.theotservice.co.uk/
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Director and Occupational Therapist
The OT Service
Karen Owens
Business Development Manager
PROCare
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Business Development Manager
PROCare
Ray Rochester
Regional Sales Manager (North)
Closomat
With over 15 years’ experience of working with occupational therapists, making the lives of disabled people easier, Ray is a passionate advocate for the continual education of all stakeholders regarding the benefits of wash/dry toilets and the dignity and independence that they provide.
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Regional Sales Manager (North)
Closomat
Nicole Jackson
Occupational Therapist
Stockport Homes
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Occupational Therapist
Stockport Homes
Paul Smith
Director
Foundations
Paul Smith joined Foundations as Director in 2015, after 25 years in local government managing and commissioning a range of housing services. Paul was one of the authors of the independent review of DFG in 2018 and the subsequent guidance published in 2022, which both emphasise the importance of good design alongside function.
https://www.foundations.uk.com
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Director
Foundations
Lauren Walker
Professional Adviser
Royal College of Occupational Therapists
Lauren is an occupational therapist with a background in housing, local authority, blue-light collaboration and public health. Since joining RCOT in 2020 she has led a range of work primarily focused on rehabilitation, Long Covid and housing. Lauren joined RCOT from the Healthy London Partnership, where she spent two years supporting London Fire Brigade to deliver Fire Safe and Well visits in five London boroughs. Prior to that she worked for five years as a specialist housing occupational therapist in a London council.
https://www.rcot.co.uk
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Professional Adviser
Royal College of Occupational Therapists
Vikki McCall
Senior Lecturer in Social Policy (Housing)
University of Stirling
Dr Vikki McCall is a Senior Lecturer in Social Policy and Housing and Deputy Associate Dean for Teaching and Learning in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stirling. Vikki’s work currently includes leading projects focusing on housing, ageing, stigma, co-production the role of front-line workers, service users, volunteers and the policy process. Dr McCall is currently PI on the Intersectional Stigma of Place-based Ageing (ISPA) project (an ESRC funded project 2022-2027) and the INVITE project looking at supporting Inclusive Living support for older people in residential care (funded by the Longleigh Foundation). She is also Co-I on the UKRI funded Designing homes for healthy cognitive ageing: co-production for impact and scale (DesHCA) project. Vikki is Honorary Secretary for the Social Policy Association Executive Committee and Editorial Board member of Social Policy & Society.
https://www.stir.ac.uk
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Senior Lecturer in Social Policy (Housing)
University of Stirling
Rachel Russell
Senior Regional Advisor
Foundations
Rachel has done many things during her 28-year career as an occupational therapist, but they have all focused on using the built aspects of the home environment to improve health and well-being. As a practitioner, she has spent most of her time in adult social care, including being the Principal Occupational Therapist at Calderdale Adult Health & Social Care before starting at Foundations.
As an academic and researcher, Rachel gained an MSc in Accessibility and Inclusive Design. She was then awarded a scholarship from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to study full-time for a PhD in the School of the Built Environment at the University of Salford. Her PhD research gained recognition in 2014 when she was awarded the Early Researcher Award from the United Kingdom Occupational Therapy Research Foundation.
Rachel was part of the team involved in the UK government-commissioned review of the Disabled Facilities Grant. Finally, Rachel is one of the authors of ‘Adaptations Without Delay’, published and launched by the Royal College of Occupational Therapists in June 2019.
https://www.foundations.uk.com/
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Senior Regional Advisor
Foundations
