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

Clinical 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.

Victoria Clark BSc (Hons) OT

Clinical Services Manager (Adults)

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 (Adults) 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.

Sarah Stagg BSc (Hons) OT

Clinical Services Manager (Paediatrics)

Sarah is our Clinical Services Manager for paediatrics and looks after our youngest client group.

Overseeing each case referred to ‘The OT Practice Kids’, Sarah manages the paediatric team; providing professional advice and support to referrers, the expert therapists and the office based team.

Skilled at working with a multitude of referrers, Sarah appreciates the diversity of case handling required. From case managers to parents she is able to provide expert clinical and professional guidance, ensuring the services offered and delivered are tailored to each individual client’s needs.

After an extensive NHS career providing comprehensive paediatric experience of both complex and clinical cases Sarah brings her knowledge and skills to the private market, constantly reviewing our services to ensure timely, high quality, bespoke service delivery.

Also facilitating the recruitment and induction of specialist, paediatric therapists, Sarah ensures a high standard of assessments and interventions for our clients from the best OTs nationwide.

Her passion for high quality care, knowledge of the paediatric networks and suppliers and extensive experience mean our youngest client group and their supporting therapists are in expert hands.

Tania Crampton-Hayward

SLT Manager (Speech & Language)

The OT Practice provides speech and language therapy to a number of clients, often alongside occupational therapy. This offers the benefit of a joined-up, team approach and a single point of contact for clients and referrers for both therapies. As an experienced SLT, Tania offers expert support and oversight to our SLTs and clients.

Tania has been practicing as a speech and language therapist for over 20 years working both in the United Kingdom and abroad. She has gained clinical experience in the statutory, voluntary and independent sectors providing assessment and therapy to children with a range of speech, language and communication needs.

Tania has worked closely with others within multi-disciplinary teams and independently in a variety of settings providing support to clients and their families. She has a broad experience, which includes working with children presenting with developmental delay, Developmental Language Disorder, difficulties with attention and listening, speech sound/phonological delay or disorder, neuromotor speech disorders such as verbal dyspraxia, social communication disorder and Autism spectrum disorder.

As part of her role Tania will be instrumental in recruitment and development of our SLT team, ensuring exceptional standards for our clients.

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

Lead Occupational Therapist- Housing & Equipment

Emma has been practicing as an Occupational Therapist for over 12 years spanning management and client facing roles. 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.

In 2017 she completed a Masters in Occupational Therapy, which has equipped her with up to date research within OT and provided her inspiration to be innovative in her own practice.

Lynn Thompson BSc (Hons) OT

LEAD OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST - PAEDIATRICS

Lynn has specialised in working with children and young adults for many years, in the past she has combined working in private and statutory services as well as undertaking medico-legal assessments. Previously Lynn also worked for the NHS as a manager for the Paediatric OT team, and has proven leadership and management qualities.

Under her direction, the paediatric team continues to grow and evolve to be leading providers of specialist paediatric occupational therapy to individual referrers, case managers, LEA’s, solicitors and insurance industries. Lynn will act not only as a mentor and guide to her fellow OT team but also complete clinical assessment and treatment. Lynn’s passion and dedication to her practice means she takes a genuine interest in her clients and ensures her therapy programmes make a real difference to her client’s lives. This dedication will be shared as she supports the paediatric therapist team in their clinical practice and own development.

Adam Parkinson MSc OT

LEAD OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST - NEURO

Adam is a highly skilled OT, specialising in stroke and brain injury. Throughout his career, Adam has divided his time between community and private settings, attaining an extensive breadth of experience.

Adam has worked in several specialist occupational therapy teams, focusing on stroke and neurological rehabilitation. He provides clinical leadership to a team of occupational therapists as well as managing his own caseload, assessing client needs and delivering expert therapy.

Adam completed his MSc in Occupational Therapy in 2010, and is now a member of the Neurological Practice and Independent Practice specialist sections of the Royal College of Occupational Therapy (RCOT).

Laura Hartley BSc (Hons) OT

LEAD OT - Seating & Postural Management

Laura qualified as an OT in 2004 from Brunel University and remains committed to her continued professional development. She is a member of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT) specialist sections in Neurological Practice and Independent Practice, and sits on the Long-Term Conditions forum.

Laura has an extensive portfolio of experience, with particular expertise in Neurological Rehabilitation and Postural Management. Laura’s post-graduate training has included specialist courses in upper limb interventions, advanced seating and postural management, and cognitive rehabilitation. Laura balances her time between managing the team and her own case load. Previously, Laura has worked as a specialist OT in a variety of settings, including as part of a multi-disciplinary team. Laura shares her invaluable insight with her team, providing clinical support when required.

Carlie Whittle BSc(Hons) OT, MOccTher (NZ)

LEAD OCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST - Functional Rehab

Carlie qualified in 2000 and has worked internationally in a wide variety of settings, building up an impressive portfolio of experience. Carlie specialises in working with clients with neurological and physical conditions, including dementia, stroke, and multiple sclerosis.

She has worked extensively in both managerial and consultancy roles, provideing a wealth of knowledge and skill to the team. She currently balances visiting her own clients with monitoring the progression of her clinical team, providing support whenever necessary.

Carlie is committed to maintaining her clinical expertise, completing a Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy in 2016 for which she also received the Linda Robertson Award of Excellence. She also holds professional membership at the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT).

Fiona Wilson

Account Manager

Fiona is our Account Manager who oversees and manages our longer term accounts by working closely with our clients and therapists on a daily basis.

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 the Account Manager role.

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.