North East Region Committee

Committee vacancies will be advertised annually in August / September and so any members wishing to get more actively involved should look out for details of these or contact the region to register their interest.

CURRENT COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Contact: northeast@apcp.org.uk 


Vicky Mercer

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Vicki Mercer

Regional Chair

Vicky graduated from Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh in 2002.  She has worked in the field of community paediatrics for 16 years, and was the clinical lead for the Children’s Physiotherapy team in South Tyneside until March 2023 when she moved into a lecturing role at Northumbria University. 

Vicky teaches on the BSc Physiotherapy course at Northumbria, bringing real world clinical experience to the student programme. 

Vicky specialises in neurodisability, and her research interests are around improving early identification of children and young people with long term conditions. committee, as she is committed to raising awareness of the importance of research within paediatric physiotherapy, and ensuring positive changes that can make an impact for our patients and their families.


Penny Walsh

Penny Walsh - North East Regional Committee
Penny Walsh

Regional Representative

Penny graduated in 2006 from the University of Teesside.  She began her physiotherapy career with the Mid Yorkshire Trust on general rotations before beginning her job with Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust specialising in community paediatric physiotherapy in 2009; she worked there until she got her first band 6 job in the Blackpool Community Paediatric Team in 2012 before finally moving to the Great North Children’s Hospital in Newcastle in 2014 on rotation within paediatrics.

In this time Penny has completed a year secondment post as a specialist within Paediatric Oncology in 2016/2017 and is now working within a pre-school setting within the community.  Penny enjoys being an active member of the APCP, helping to bring relevant CPD training sessions as well as helping to promote paediatric physiotherapy within the North East.


Fiona Blacklock


Eleanor Brambles 


Jen Chesteron

Jen Chesterton - North East Region Committee
Jen Chesterton

Jen Graduated from the University of Northumbria in 2007.  She began her career at Sunderland Royal Hospital before moving to a Band 6 Community Facilitated Discharge role.  Following this, Jen secured her first paediatric physiotherapy post at Northumbria NHS Foundation Trust where she worked with a range of paediatric conditions.  She specialised within the area of complex neurodisability with a primary focus on the management of children in with special educational needs.  She maintained practice across the range of community paediatric management such as with MSK, orthopaedic and persistent physical symptoms expanding these in a management role as a band 7 at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Gateshead.

Most recently Jen as moved to work at The University of Sunderland to bridge the gap between clinical experience and theoretical learning for students.  Within the Physiotherapy degree she is responsible for the production of innovative, student focussed, teaching and learning support material.  This links closely with her vision to develop excellence in the physiotherapists of the future.  Jen is keen to maintain links with clinical working and being an active member of the APCP is an asset to embed evidence base into teaching and practice.


Jen Ferguson


Alison France
Alison France

Alison France

Alison qualified as Physiotherapist in 2002 from Sheffield Hallam University and  has worked for Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Foundation Trust since qualifying.   After completing her rotations she moved to a Paediatric post in 2004 where she developed her foundation skills for a career in Paediatrics.  She then went onto to specialise in Musculoskeletal and Orthopaedics alongside being a Clinical Team Leader for the Paediatric Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists at Doncaster Royal Infirmary.  Over the last 7 years her role has been split between Clinical Team Lead in Paediatric Therapy and Physiotherapy Practitioner in Orthopaedics, working in an Extended Scope role alongside the Orthopaedics Consultants assessing and managing children referred to Orthopaedics.

Alison has always been a member of the APCP and has found the conferences and courses invaluable in her development over the last 17 years. S he now hopes to help contribute to the APCP and its future and to also network and share good practice through this role.


Faye Hamilton  


Kim Jarvis


Leesha Naisbit


Holly Heighway

Holly Heighway
Holly Heighway

Holly qualified with a BSc Physiotherapy from Northumbria University in 2010. She then completed core rotations at MidYorkshire Hospitals NHS and Gateshead NHS Foundation Trust, before specialising in Paediatrics at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust by 2015. Holly gained a Masters degree in Paediatric Physiotherapy in 2022 from University College London and works as a Specialist within MSK Outpatients in Leeds. Holly values the work of the APCP and joined the Regional committee in 2022

 


Lucy Brown


Rosie Greaves

Rosie is a soon to be newly qualified physiotherapist from Northumbria University. She is a family orientated human originally from Manchester but moved to the North East to study physiotherapy. She is a fit and active young woman; she keeps fit by playing competitive netball, running, going to the gym and cycling. She is passionate about volunteering and supporting children and young people across the world to make a difference to their lives, this has been something she has taken an interest in from a young age. Rosie has been fortunate enough to have such a wide range of paediatric physiotherapy placement experiences during her time as a student, which has inspired her to focus on a career in paediatric physiotherapy. She is always looking for another challenge and adventure and is looking forward to the opportunities ahead as a regional committee member of the North East APCP.


 Imogen Welsh

Imogen is a third year student at Northumbria University and about to graduate in July. She is really happy to be joining the committee and is hoping to be getting a job in the northeast of England. Outside of physiotherapy Imogen loves to play sports including hockey and has recently started paddle boarding!  She also enjoys volunteering with local groups including girlguiding and hopes to continue this when moving across to the north east full time.


Dee (Diana) Clarkson                                                                                             

Dee (Diana) Clarkson
Dee (Diana) Clarkson

Dee qualified with a Masters in Physiotherapy in 2007 and spent 12 years in the NHS,  specialising in paediatric physiotherapy early in her career (2010) and have extensive knowledge in cerebral palsy and child development.  In 2018, Dee set up ABC Physiotherapy which specialises in complex paediatric neurological cases covering a wide geographical area and in 2022 I created ABC Therapy Ltd to provide a more holistic approach and physiotherapy care to adults. 

Dee is Bobath trained but uses a combination of numerous therapy concepts including electrotherapy and hydrotherapy to ensure the clients reach their greatest potential. Research and development remain a key area of interest. Dee is proactive in seeking training and remaining at the leading edge of technology.

Dee is a member of the MLACP, The Medical Legal Association of Chartered Physiotherapists where she trained in Medical Legal reports writing and Expert witness roles and responsibilities. Since 2019, Dee has worked closely with case managers, deputies and solicitors. 

Dee enjoys working closely with families, multidisciplinary team members and legal teams where she understands the importance of building trust, joint decision making and open communication to ensure the best interest of each child is at the forefront of their therapy.