Our practice team

Nikki Thompson BSc (Hons) OT

Executive Director

Nikki brought together her extensive clinical experience with forward thinking entrepreneurialism to found The OT Practice in 2006. Initially working as an independent practitioner Nikki has built The OT Practice into a first class therapy business. She is passionate about delivering enhanced core clinical skills to the private and commercial sector without the waiting lists or red tape that is often associated with statutory services.

The OT Practice maintains close and successful relationships with its private, commercial and local authority clients consistently delivering a high quality service that Nikki would expect for her own family – the very best.

Nikki has an interest in research, authoring articles published in the International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation and the Occupational Therapy News, and is also a book reviewer for the British Journal of Occupational Therapy.

Nikki maintains a high level of professional development and supervision. She has served on the National Executive Committee of the College of Occupational Therapists’ Specialist Section in Independent Practice and regularly attends conferences and seminars to enhance her own practice and that of her team.

Giles Thompson

Managing Director

Giles is responsible for the business operations at The OT Practice.

He joined the team in 2014 with the remit to help establish and implement a growth strategy for the business in line with the high expectations of our clients.

With over 20 years of experience in product development and business operations, he has been instrumental in the creation of Practice Plus, our therapy business workflow system, and refining the processes that underpin it.

Formerly Giles was a member of the executive committee at Financial News, where he was responsible for the technology and internal operations strategy. Following a long term plan to prepare the company for sale it was successfully sold for £30m to Dow Jones, the owner of The Wall Street Journal.

Matthew Bertram

Group Operations Director

Matthew joined The OT Practice after working in the case management industry for over 10 years, focussing mainly on catastrophic injuries.

He worked in a management capacity and was responsible for introducing systems and processes to significantly enhance quality and efficiency and achieve strong growth. He has managed teams of health professionals in the delivery of clinical services involving complex cases and gained exposure to a broad range of clinical areas within rehabilitation/case management, such as paediatrics, brain injury, spinal injury, psychological trauma, amputation and complex orthopaedics.

At The OT Practice Matthew is responsible for overall service delivery and oversees our clinical team of Client Managers. He is also the company's Safeguarding lead.

Iva Ricko BSc OT, MSc PT, PhD (Cand)

Head of Clinical Services

Iva is responsible for the Clinical Services division, ensuring clinical excellence and a consistently high standard of quality is delivered to our clients and referrers.

Iva joined The OT Practice after working as a therapy team lead in a vibrant emergency department, where her main focus was on providing supervision to highly specialist therapists, service development and project management.

In addition to her 6+ years’ experience in the NHS within the occupational therapy department and extensive clinical practice overseas, Iva has gained a broad portfolio of post qualification experience, developing both her clinical and business leadership skills. Since becoming an Occupational Therapist, Iva has continued her professional and academic development, with a master’s degree in Physiotherapy and graduating in 2022 from Henley Business School, where she had the opportunity to expand her management knowledge with some of the country’s top leaders. She is also enrolled on a PhD programme on Prevention Science and Disability studies.

Victoria Clark BSc (Hons) OT

Clinical Services Manager

Victoria joined The OT Practice client management team following over 7 years clinical experience working as an occupational therapist in statutory services and for private companies.

Victoria mainly works with our professional clients, such as case managers and solicitors, providing a comprehensive and timely service from enquiry through to assessment and treatment.

Through her experience working in the community and with inpatients, Victoria gained a broad range of skills, which are essential in her role as the Clinical Services Manager for The OT Practice. In particular she has a special interest in and knowledge of rehabilitation, equipment provision, moving and handling, older adult care, falls prevention and dementia care.

In addition to her clinical work, Victoria has management experience within an inpatient rehabilitation service, which she helped set up and led a multidisciplinary team. This combination of management and clinical experience, together with her passion for OT, gives Victoria the insight, knowledge and commitment to provide her clients with an exceptional level of service.

Kate Halliday BSc (Hons) Physio

Clinical Services Manager

Kate is an experienced physiotherapist with a background in inpatient care, where she worked closely with OTs to provide holistic rehabilitation and care. This experience combined with Kate's particalar interest in rehabilitation, moving and handling and living well with and beyond cancer, gives her an ideal foundation for supporting our private referral clients, as well as the team she directs and manages.

Fiona Wilson

Head of Key Accounts

Fiona manages our Key Accounts team which looks after our business, local authority and charity customers that refer clients to us on a regular basis or in large batches.

Fiona joined the team in 2015 and brings excellent people and project management skills, which she has developed in recent years working on high profile projects for a range of clients. She regularly goes the extra mile to ensure clients genuinely feel valued and makes sure all project administration, reports and finances are in order and organised. The projects Fiona works on involve ongoing occupational therapy and assessment services to people of all ages through housing associations, local authorities, schools and care homes. Her main goal is to ensure that our clients are provided with a high quality service and given the support they need.

Graduating in April 2015 from a part-time Business Management degree, Fiona has a great deal of business, strategy and management skills and knowledge which make her a perfect fit for leading this team.

If you would like more information on what we do at The OT Practice and how we can assist you with ongoing OT support, then please drop Fiona an email or give her a call.

Emma Foreman BSc (Hons), MSc (Dist) OT

OT Network Manager

Emma has been practicing as an Occupational Therapist for over 12 years spanning management and client facing roles and completing a Masters in Occupational Therapy in 2017. She has a strong background in health, education and social care both in the UK and overseas.

Emma's previous roles have included working at the frontline in Housing and Equipment assessment, provision and training for adults and children within social care. She has extensive experience in training on both equipment and moving and handling. Emma's roles have also taken her overseas to Dubai where she worked with international clients for 3 years.