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. 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 on the well-being of 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 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.

In 2018 she 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, having previously authored Minor Adaptations without Delay and written chapters for The Essential Guide for occupational therapist.

Kate continues to have a small clinical caseload to keep her up to date with the needs of her clients, she provides clinical mentoring for a number of local authorities and works closely with our consultancy companies, forging better design for all.

Kate is internationally known and has presented her work in Australia, Italy, the USA along with the first accessible housing courses in Bosnia and Croatia.

Kate was awarded a Fellowship from the RCOT in 2022 for her outstanding work in the field of occupational therapy and in 2023 was bestowed a fellowship from the University of Worcester.

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.

Whist in the NHS Adam worked in a range of clinical areas but predominantly emergency care, then neurological rehabilitation as a senior therapist.  In the final 3 years of NHS employment Adam managed acute and rehabilitation services across four 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.  However, 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 and Abacus Healthcare.

Adam is a member of the British Association of Occupational Therapists and the College of Occupational Therapists Specialist sections – Independent Practice and Older People as well as being registered with the Health Care Professionals Council (OT52788)

Lucy has 25 year’s post graduate experience in occupational therapy, including over 20 years in statutory services working as a clinical specialist and leading multidisciplinary teams, consequently, she has a broad and thorough understanding of health and social care systems across the UK. Lucy has worked for 10 years in the private sector carrying an eclectic caseload of people with a range of neurological, orthopaedic and polytrauma diagnoses, finding creative ways of meeting an individual’s goals and providing occupation-focused rehabilitation. Lucy is an accomplished public speaker, delivering webinars, keynote speeches and has appeared on BBC Breakfast and Radio 4.  With a passion for the profession and an MSc in Advanced Occupational Therapy, Lucy became clinical director of The OT Service in 2022.  She now uses her experience to support our UK-wide network of associate occupational therapists, providing clinical guidance to the clinical co-ordination team and leading on our relationships with case managers. In addition, Lucy oversees several occupational therapy projects, including the interim management of statutory occupational therapy services, working in partnership with local authorities around proportionate care, waiting list reduction and optimising pathways and processes.

Brian has a wide variety of experiences to draw on in his role as Operations Manager. He graduated in 1997 from The University of Brighton with a Ba (Hons) in Physical and Business Education.  He spent some time in London fitness instructing and sports coaching before re-locating to the North East, setting up his own business with the help of the Prince’s Trust. 

As personal and professional circumstances changed Brian moved into an 16 year healthcare career,  firstly with the ambulance service and latterly in an NHS Acute Occupational Therapy service as a Technical Instructor. In 2019 he accepted the role of Practice Manager with The OT Service and is is now our full-time Operations Manager bringing a committed and creative approach to the service we provide.

Jill began working for The OT Service in 2020 following 30 years of work in statutory services. She brings a wealth of experience from a variety of administrative and secretarial roles, many in the NHS and thus has a huge understanding of the healthcare sector and the importance of effective administration.

Jill has helped The OT Service go from strength to strength and recently became our first assistant clinical co-ordinator supporting our 3 clinical co-ordinators in managing the caseload.

Lisa is an occupational therapist of 12 years, retraining as a mature student following a career in banking. She was The OT Service’s first clinical co-ordinator and now shares the responsibility for managing our caseload and co-ordinating associates with Shirleyanne and Sarah. Her clinical knowledge and experience of the private sector is ideally suited to her role and we know her supportive approach to our associate therapists is greatly appreciated.

Lisa’s clinical skills are broad having worked in a number of NHS and statutory roles and more recently in the private sector. As with all our clinical co-ordinators she is always at the end of the phone for case managers, private referrers and our various other clients and commissioners.

Kimberley joined us in 2023 as an administrator and quickly became an invaluable member of the team bringing over 20 years of paid and voluntary work in the healthcare sector. Her previous experiences include GP surgery, statutory services and private sector administration.

Kimberley has a breadth of knowledge regarding systems of work and uses this effectively during her dealings with local authority contracts.

Along with Joanna she is first port of call for referrals, associate queries and general enquiries.

As with all our clinical co-ordinators Shirleyanne is a qualified occupational therapist graduating from Northumbria University in 2014 with a 1st class honours degree.

Shirleyanne has been a valuable associate of The OT Service for a number of years, recently taking on the employed position of clinical co-ordinator.

Her clinical experiences have been primarily in care of the elderly work, managing complex caseloads in both acute and rehabilitation settings. This has involved supporting people with a range of complex and long-term healthcare needs such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, along with trauma and elective orthopaedics, dementia and palliative care.

Joanna began working for The OT Service in 2024 following 24 years in GP surgery administration. Not only does Joanna have a wonderful talent for front of house work, she is hugely experienced in healthcare administrative processes and business systems of work.

Along with Kimberley, Joanna is your first port of call for referrals, associate queries and general enquiries.

Joining Lisa and Shirleyanne, Sarah is an occupational therapist of 14 years and our third clinical co-ordinator. Sarah is a highly experienced OT specialising in rehabilitation and will be invaluable in assisting case managers and associate therapists with clients requiring sessional work.  This could simply be in the context of  daily living, vocational goals or social integration, to name but a few . At The OT Service we take our values seriously and Sarah is the epitome of client-centredness, always putting the person first.  After an extensive period working in palliative care Sarah focuses on providing a truly tailored approach to therapy which encompasses all aspects of a client’s life. She has wonderful communication skills and is another great asset to our team.

Claire qualified as an occupational therapist in 2004 and before joining The Occupational Therapy Service in 2023, spent most of her career working in adult and children’s social care. She has successfully worked in leadership roles in several local authorities in the north of England.  Claire has been an associate of The Occupational Therapy Service for a number of years and therefore has been instilling the values of the company for some time.

As Clinical Lead, Claire is responsible for clinical excellence, quality assurance and the day-to-day management of our clinical team. All output from The Occupational Therapy Service has a consistent ‘stamp of authority’ from Claire, ensuring the utmost standards. Alongside her occupational therapy qualifications, Claire is ADOS approved which is an internationally recognised standard for assessing autism. Claire uses her knowledge in this field to further raise standards of intervention for  children, young people and adults. Through The Occupational Therapy Service, Claire continues to provide an interim management role for a local authority occupational therapy team, support a selective client caseload and work closely with Clinical Director, Lucy Leonard.