Graham Morgan, CONSULTANT PHYSIOTHERAPIST, BSc Physiotherapy, MSc Musculoskeletal Medicine, INDEPENDENt physiotherapist PRESCRIBER, INJECTION THERAPIST, MCSP, HCPC registered

Graham has been working as a Clinical Lead Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist for over a decade now, he is the Clinical Lead for our clinic and acts as a mentor for the majority of the team. He has studied to gain an additional masters degree in Musculoskeletal Medicine alongside his previous physiotherapy degree. His main specialty is management of complex spinal conditions and he continues to work full time in his advanced clinical practice role with the spinal surgeons in the local NHS trust. Graham is a Clinical Lead for the region in management of back pain. Part of his role within the clinic involves planning and implementing high level combined physical and cognitive therapies programs for people with persistent spinal pain, he is trained in cognitive functional therapy. Graham treats patients with longstanding lower back pain with or without leg symptoms, neck pain with or without arm symptoms, post operative spines and patients who may have developed neurological deficits. He is experienced at interpreting spinal imaging as well as recognising when imaging may be required to assist care. Graham is also an independent prescriber and an experienced injection therapist and is used to administering steroid and hyaluronic acid such as synvisc and ostenil to help patients manage chronic conditions.

Niall carter, CONSULTANT PHYSIOTHERAPIST, BSc physiotherapy, msc advanced physiotherapy, independent physiotherapist PRESCRIBER, INJECTION THERAPIST, MCSP, HCPC registered

Nial is one of the most qualified and experienced Physiotherapists in the region. We are very lucky to have him as part of our team. When he is not working at Consortium as one of our Clinical Lead therapists he holds the same role as Graham working as an advanced clinical practicioner in the management of complex spinal conditions within the local spinal surgical team. Nial is also a Clinical Lead within our NHS region in the management of persistent back pain. Part of his role within the clinic involves planning and implementing high level combined physical and cognitive therapies programs for people with persistent spinal pain. Alongside this, he is vastly experienced in managing a wide variety of other musculoskeletal complaints. In addition to his two degrees in Physiotherapy he also an independent physiotherapist prescriber aswell as an injection therapist.

clare haslam, CONSULTANT WOMENS HEALTH PHYSIOTHERAPIST, bsc physiotherapy, mcsp, pogp, hcpc registereD, MUMMY MOT PRACTICIONER

Clare is a Specialist Women’s Health Physiotherapist within the local NHS trust and has been for over 10 years. She is regional expert in Women’s Health, is a member of the special interest group Pelvic, Obstetric & Gynaecology Physiotherapy (POGP) and is a certified Mummy MOT practitioner. She specialises in treating a variety of women’s health conditions including pelvic floor dysfunction, overactive pelvic floor, pelvic floor weakness, pelvic organ prolapse, bladder and bowel dysfunction such as urinary incontinence, overactive bladder, constipation and faecal incontinence. Although she does not see women during pregnancy, Clare can offer support with post pregnancy related conditions such as weak pelvic floor, obstetric injuries, rectus diastasis. As a certified Mummy MOT practitioner she offers specialist post natal examinations to help women recover after vaginal or caesarean deliveries (read more about this on our blog). Clares scope of practice also includes Male Health Physiotherapy for pre and post prostatectomy: including assessment, treatment and support with urinary incontinence and errectile dysfunction.

Abi Holt, CLINICAL LEAD MSK PHYSIOTHERAPIST, Bsc Physiotherapy, INJECTION THERAPIST, MCSP, HCPC registered

Abi has been working as a Clinical Lead Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist for a number of years now. When she is not working at Consortium she is one of the senior staff in the local hospital MSK physiotherapy department while she also works in the local emergency department assessing and managing patients with acute MSK conditions. She has gained extensive post graduate training in all aspects of MSK physiotherapy including Injection Therapy. She also has a special interest in treating spinal pathology, especially patients with chronic lower back pain. Abi works with Molly in heading up our team of Ossur brace fitters where they frequently fit patients with the Unloader One brace to help with knee osteoarthritis.

Gary Bradley, CLINICAL LEAD MSK PHYSIOTHERAPOST, BSc Physiotherapy, INJECTION THERAPIST, MCSP, HCPC registered

Gary is a Clinical Lead Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and Injection Therapist. He supplements his work at Consortium by working in the East Yorkshire NHS services as a Team Lead MSK Physiotherapist. He has a wealth of experience having spent many years working within different facets of musculoskeletal medicine. He is skilled at seeing patients with hyper-acute injuries aswell as managing chronic conditions and long term rehab. Gary has extensive post graduate training, he spends time at the clinic implementing high level combined physical and cognitive therapies programs for people with persistent spinal pain, he is also trained in cognitive functional therapy.

Gary has always been driven to specialise in MSK Physiotherapy he is currently mid way through his Masters degree in advanced Physiotherapy. He is also an experienced injection therapist and is used to administering steroid and hyaluronic acid such as synvisc and ostenil to help patients manage chronic conditions.

His main focus is to empower his patients to be able to understand their condition and to manage it as effectively and independently as possible.

Tom Nozedar, SENIOR MSK PHYSIOTHERAPIST, MSC physiotherapy, bsc sports rehabilitation, mcsp hcpC registered

Tom is an experienced senior Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist. He works as a Senior MSK Physiotherapist within the NHS and is part of our in house Consortium MSK Physiotherapy mentorship program. Tom is an asset to our team, and can offer our patients a wide range of skills having initially graduated as a Sports Rehabilitator before returning to study and gain his Masters degree in Physiotherapy.

ShAFEEQ younus, SENIOR MSK PHYSIOTHERAPIST BSc Physiotherapy BSc, bsc SPORTS REHABILITATION, LEVEL 3 IN SPORTS MASSAGE THERAPY, hcpc registered

Shafeeq has a BSc degree in both Physiotherapy from Sheffield Hallum University and also a full degree in Sports Rehabilitation.

Aswell as seeing patients for Physiotherapy, Shafeeq also sees lots of patients for soft tissue work and he is often in high demand. His training and experience leaves him really well placed for any advice on pain, injuries and rehabilitation.

Shafeeq is a really valued member of our team having been with us throughout his training period on the Physiotherapy degree. He is now part of our in house Consortium MSK Physiotherapy mentorship program.

bart klimek, SENIOR MSK PHYSIOTHERAPIST, BSc Physiotherapy, bsc sports rehabilitation, level 3 in sports massage therapY, HCPC REGISTERED

Bart has a BSc degree in both Physiotherapy from Sheffield Hallum University and also a full degree in Sports Rehabilitation.

He is an experienced soft tissue therapist having graduated in Sports Rehabilitation a number of years ago from Hull University before then going on to become a fully qualified MSK Physiotherapist. Alongside his work at Consortium, he also works as an MSK Physio for the local East Yorkshire NHS MSK Physiotherapy team.

His sports rehabilitation experience as well as his physiotherapy degree leave him in strong position to manage a wide variety of MSK patients whether it be for soft tissue work/massage, or management of a variety of MSK complaints and sports injuries.

debbie robinson : senior rehabilitation therapist, associate member of the chartered society of physiotherapists

Debbie has been working as a Rehabilitaton Therapist for over 25 years. For the last 13 years she has been carrying out community home visits as part of the local NHS Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy team. Her vast experience in orthopaedic rehab, care of the elderly and with amputees makes her a valuable member of our team who can offer these services to patients in their own home or care facility as required.

MASSAGE TEAM:

bart klimek BSc Physiotherapy, bsc sports rehabilitation, level 3 in sports massage therapY, HCPC REGISTERED

Bart has a BSc degree in both Physiotherapy from Sheffield Hallum University and also a full degree in Sports Rehabilitation.

To find out more about the Consortium Sports Massage service please use this link.

It is only natural if you have a problem to want to resort to some form of imaging to try to identify a cause. From a patients perspective this is understandable, for patients, it makes logical sense. Unfortunately, as with most things there is far more to consider here as we will go on to explain... Patients are misled by imaging so frequently that we feel it is very important to cover this topic early on.

ARE SCANS USEFUL?
Absolutely this is a yes, they are key to many things. This is not a one sided argument about the problems we encounter with misleading images however. Obviously scans are essential for surgical planning, identifying major/serious pathology, fractures, lesions and dislocations etc.

Will my scan ACCURATELY identify my problem?
It is very common for scans to show abnormalities that do not relate to a person's symptoms. These findings are often purely radiological incidental findings! Our clinicians interpret images in daily surgical clinics and constantly encounter these issues when analysing the hundreds of MRI and Ultrasound scans we come across a year. We find ourselves often explaining to patients why it is that their MRI scan shows a huge disc prolapse clearly compressing a nerve on the right side but yet their symptoms are only on the left!

FACTS AND FIGURES

SPINAL MRIS
48% of 20-22 year olds with absolutely no back pain or any issues had at least one degenerative disc seen on their scan, at least 25% had a disc bulge showing. (Source)

40% of individuals under the age of 30 and 90% of people over the age of 50 have disc degeneration, yet they are pain free. (Source)

One study found 98% of men and women with no neck pain had degenerative changes seen on their MRI scan. (Source)

SHOULDER ULTRASOUND SCANS
20% of pain free adults had a partial rotator cuff tear on MRI scan with 15% showing a major full thickness tear! For those people over 60, at least half have a rotator cuff tear they never even knew about. (Source)

KNEE XRAYS
If you x-ray a normal population of adults with no actual knee pain, at least 85% of the x-rays taken will show arthritis. (Source)

In one study, 48% of professional basketball players were shown to have cartilage damage on their knee MRI scans, none had any pain. (Source)

WHAT DO WE TAKE FROM THIS?
Degenerative changes are simply normal. What we see on our scans, often does not represent reality. There is no need to worry if your scan shows certain changes, they are not necessarily associated with pain. If you allow your images to mislead you, theoretically you could end up in higher amounts of pain for longer amounts of time.

Don't get us wrong, as previously mentioned, where appropriate, imaging is an important part of a patients care. Our clinicians at consortium rely upon images to make surgical decisions in conjunction with the surgeons we work with. What is essential is that a patients symptoms directly correlate with the symptoms that they present with. Both us, and patients need to make sure we do not get side tracked with purely incidental findings. Next time you somebody tells you that your discs are worn out or your shoulder is torn then I hope you can see there is no reason to immediately panic! It is absolutely feasible for patients with worn out joints to function at high levels with no symptoms.

Thanks
The Consortium Team

Our Team