Celebrating AHP Day 2024: Profiles of inspiring physiotherapists at Leicester Diabetes Centre
As part of our celebration of Allied Health Professions (AHP) Day 2024, we are shining a spotlight on the physiotherapists at Leicester Diabetes Centre (LDC) who have taken their clinical backgrounds and transformed them into diverse and impactful roles. Their journeys demonstrate the incredible versatility of a physiotherapy career and inspire others to explore new opportunities in healthcare, education, research, and leadership.
Here’s a look at five inspiring physiotherapists making a difference at LDC:
Laura Willcocks, Assistant Director Integration, Education, and Innovation:
When did you qualify as a physio? 1992
How long have you worked clinically? I worked across various clinical areas for the first ten years, then transitioned into training, development, and leadership roles. I returned to weekend clinical work in the past ten years in an inpatient setting, as I missed patient care and felt I could contribute valuable experience.
What is your role now? As one of the Assistant Directors here at LDC, I have several responsibilities:
o Leading the Eden healthcare professional (HCP) education team and service
o Designing and delivering leadership and management programmes for LDC staff and beyond
o Providing organisational development support to teams across LDC and to Research and Innovation more widely
o Leading on integration and transformation of services across University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) and our local Integrated Care Board (ICB)
How does your Physiotherapist background help in your current role? It provides credibility as a clinician and allows me to engage with people from different perspectives. It keeps me grounded in the purpose of our work. I try to never lose sight of why and what we are here for — improving patient care.
Advice for others who might be considering training as a Physiotherapist or at a career crossroads. The opportunities are limitless in education, research, leadership, and service delivery. Physios have a skill set that adds enormous value.
Vicki Johnson, Lead Research Associate:
When did you qualify as a physio? 2009
How long have you worked clinically? My first role was as a Research Physio within Pulmonary Rehab. I was keen to keep and develop my clinical skills, which I partly did by delivering research interventions, but I also delivered Pulmonary Rehab and joined the bank weekend rota. I continued working part-time in my band 5 research role and as a band 6 Community COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) Physio. I later combined these into a Band 6 Research and Respiratory Physio role before joining LDC in 2014.
What is your role now? As a Band 8a Lead Research Associate, I develop, deliver, and evaluate self-management education programmes and interventions for people with, or at risk of, long-term conditions, such as type 2 diabetes. I also train and support others in delivering our interventions.
How does your Physiotherapist background help in your current role? The skills from physiotherapy—clinical reasoning, problem solving, resourcefulness, and understanding real-world challenges—are invaluable in developing research interventions and preparing them for implementation.
Advice for others who might be considering training as a Physiotherapist or at a career crossroads. Do it! You never know where your career might lead. I never planned to be in research, but opportunities arise, and it is essential to pursue them if they feel right.
Dr Hannah Young, Specialist Research Physio and Honorary Associate Professor:
When did you qualify as a physio? 2004
How long have you worked clinically? I worked clinically until 2011, then moved into research. Thankfully, there are more and more options now to combine clinical and research work and I picked my clinical work, supporting people living with chronic kidney disease, back up, alongside my research work in 2020.
What is your role now? I am a Specialist Renal Research Physiotherapist at UHL. My clinical role includes supporting people living with kidney disease during an inpatient admission with early rehabilitation and discharge planning and developing a new service to support people to live well with advanced kidney disease. In my research work I recently became an Honorary Associate Professor with LDC and, as part of an NIHR Advanced Fellowship, I am developing and testing an intervention which supports people living with multiple long-term conditions and frailty, alongside their careers, to improve their 24-hour physical health behaviours - so their physical activity, sleep and sitting time.
How does your Physiotherapist background help in your current role? Physiotherapists are hands-on problem-solvers, making this skill set perfect for research. Having a clinical background can also help you understand if a research intervention will work in practice and what some of the challenges in the real world might be right from the start.
Advice for others who might be considering training as a Physiotherapist or at a career crossroads. The profession has changed so much since I qualified in 2004, and the time we have now to rehabilitate people in acute care is incredibly short. Despite these challenges there is huge opportunity for us to be leading change and redesigning services so we can respond to the changing healthcare environment and demographics of the people we support, without compromising on patient experience and high-quality care. If you are at a crossroads in your career, don't be afraid to put yourself outside of your comfort zone to try something new that reignites your passion for the role.
Julia Burdon, Education and Research Associate:
When did you qualify as a physio? 2000
How long have you worked clinically? I worked clinically across many specialties including cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation from 2000 to 2013. I then had a career break before returning to cardiac rehab work out in the community in 2015 working directly out of local leisure centres. During my career break I maintained my clinical skills by volunteering for a local hospice working in both in-patients and out-patients, which was hugely rewarding albeit difficult at times. In 2016 I began work for LDC delivering research study interventions for various projects including self-management education for people living with multiple long-term conditions and this led to be finally joining the Centre fully in 2019 as a band 6 and working in the Complex Interventions Team. For over 15 years I have also worked as an assessor for the British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention & Rehabilitation (BACPR) on their Specialist Exercise Instructor Cardiac Qualification. This has allowed me to preserve valuable clinical skills and work alongside other exercise professionals around the country.
What is your role now? I am a band 7 Education and Research Associate at LDC. I work within a team who develop, deliver, and evaluate various self-management education programmes and complex interventions, for people with, or at risk of, long term conditions, such as type 2 diabetes.
How does your Physiotherapist background help in your current role? Being a physiotherapist in the NHS both clinically and in research gives you many skills, including problem solving, decision-making, and teamwork which are crucial in developing interventions and training others.
Advice for others who might be considering training as a Physiotherapist or at a career crossroads. Don't be afraid to try something different. I have worked across many different services and projects over the last 24 years and each one of them, at times, has pushed me out of my comfort zone. However, it has also meant I have found new opportunities and new ways of working whilst still being a Physiotherapist in the NHS.
Vicky Hall, Education and Research Associate:
When did you qualify as a physio? 2011, after a career change following a degree in Biology and roles in research and pharmaceutical sales. I wanted to retrain as a healthcare professional to help people improve their health and quality of life.
How long have you worked clinically? I worked clinically from 2011 until 2022 when I joined LDC. I still work clinically, but now my role combines patient education and research. I’ve worked in inpatient rehab, respiratory, cardiology, palliative care, and most recently in neuro rehab with the LPT CINSS team.
What is your role now? I am an Education and Research Associate in the IMPACT team, running physical activity and education group sessions for research participants. It has been fantastic to build relationships with the participants, understand what makes them 'tick', and see them progress week by week.
How does your physio background help in your current role? I have a strong patient focus, which helps me to keep them at the heart of all that we do here in the Impact team. My experience in community care has given me a greater understanding of the barriers they might be facing within their world.
Advice for others who might be considering training as a Physiotherapist or at a career crossroads? Physiotherapy is a great career choice; there are so many different aspects to the role that you will never get bored! I came to work in research for a new and different kind of challenge. If you feel that you need that too, and an opportunity presents itself, grab it and run with it! I have been able to continue building my existing clinical knowledge and skills, while also learning in areas completely new to me. Best of all, I still get to spend quality time with patients!
These five professionals showcase the diverse career paths available to physiotherapists at LDC. From research to leadership, education, and clinical practice, their journeys inspire others to explore their full potential and embrace the limitless possibilities of a career in physiotherapy.