Merivale Hand Clinic

Physiotherapists - Occupational Therapists

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Our Team


	Sue Sewell Sue qualified as a physiotherapist in Sheffield, UK, in 1974. Hand Therapy became her speciality of choice after working with hand injured patients at Burwood Hospital's Plastic Surgery Unit for four years. Sue is the original founder and current co-director of the Merivale Hand Clinic, starting her Merivale practice in 1985. Sue became one of the first fully registered New Zealand Hand Therapists in 1999. The need for more Hand Therapy services across Canterbury led to the development of Merivale Hand Clinic satellite clinics, and Sue's role changing into one of mentor and manager. Sue's current role includes overseeing the delivery of hand therapy services at each clinic, while maintaining a clinical load. Sue's expertise is used in a mentoring capacity to assist staff in planning individual rehabilitation programmes for complex injuries or pathologies referred to the Merivale Hand Clinic. In 2010 Sue's Hand Therapy colleagues recognised her ongoing role and commitment to Hand Therapy in New Zealand and voted her in as a Life Member of the New Zealand Association of Hand Therapists.

	Jenny Turner Jenny graduated as a physiotherapist in 1975 in Dunedin. She worked overseas for several years in both England and Denmark, before returning to work at Burwood Hopital where she joined the newly developed hand therapy team. Jenny was a founding member of the New Zealand Association of Hand Therapists. She worked full time at Burwood as a senior Hand Therapist until she had her first child. At that time she joined Sue in her private practice. Jenny continues to work at the Merivale Hand Clinic as a senior Hand Therapist helping with supervision and training of our therapists and treating complex cases. Areas of interest include wrist and finger fractures.

	Nicky Barclay Nicky graduated from the Dunedin School of Physiotherapy in 1978. After graduating she gained extensive general experience in respiratory, stroke and neurological rehabilitation. Nicky spent one year working in England in medical, neural and post operative middle ear surgery. On her return to New Zealand she worked as Section Head of the Assessment and Rehabilitation Unit at The Princess Margaret Hospital in Christchurch. Nicky has been involved in hand therapy since 1988 on a part time basis while her family of three children were growing up. She joined the team at the Merivale Hand Clinic on a permanent basis in 2000 and in 2003 she qualified as a Registered Hand Therapist. She has an interest in splinting for hypertonicity.

	Susan Bell Sue graduated as a physiotherapist in 1982 and worked in hospital and private practice settings specialising in Orthopaedic Rehabilitation. She joined the Merivale Hand Clinic team in 2003 and became a Registered Hand Therapist in 2006. Sue's orthopaedic skills provide the clinic with expertise in the area of hand and forearm sprains and strains and hand trauma.

	Craig Hawkyard Craig graduated from the University of Otago with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy in 1997. Craig worked in New Zealand and the United Kingdom before joining the Merivale Hand Clinic in 2004, becoming a Registered Hand Therapist in 2006. Craig's skills and expertise include splinting and managing serious hand injury. Craig's role includes managing the clinic's quality assurance programmes. In 2010 he was elected as President of the NZAHT

	Anne Robinson Anne graduated from the University of Otago with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy in 1995. She worked as a junior physiotherapist at Middlemore Hospital prior to travelling overseas to work in the orthopaedic and musculoskeletal fields in London. On her return to New Zealand in 2005 she commenced work at the Merivale Hand Clinic and became a fully Registered Hand Therapist in September 2007. Anne's areas of special interest include splinting, managing sports injuries to the hand and fractures of the fingers. Anne is based at our Moorhouse Hand Clinic.

	Tjun Theng Tjun graduated from the University of Otago in 1995 with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy. Tjun worked as part of the physiotherapy team at Christchurch Hospital for four years, gaining experience in a wide range of departments, including the Hand Therapy Unit. Tjun's work in the unit developed her special interest in treating hand injuries and she subsequently spent two years working in London extending her skills before returning to New Zealand to start a family. Tjun has completed the NZAHT training program and is a Registered Hand Therapist. Tjun is also the mother of three gorgeous young children and works part-time at the Merivale Hand Clinic

	Leigh Law Leigh has been working at the Merivale Hand Clinic since 2007. She completed the Hand and Upper Limb Therapy Post Graduate Certificate of Proficiency from the Auckland Institute of Technology in 2007 and became a Registered Hand Therapist in 2009. Leigh has always held an interest and enjoyed working in the speciality of hand injuries and rehabilitation after graduating as an Ocupational Therapist from Queen's College, Glasgow in 1991. Since then she has gained experience in a variety of areas including rheumatology, orthopaedics and paediatrics, all of which have included some element of hand therapy. Leigh relocated to Christchurch with her family in 2004. She is based in the Kaiapoi Hand Clinic and covers all aspects of hand therapy including post surgical rehabilitation.

	Rebekah Kilgour Rebekah graduated from the Auckland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Health Science (Occupational Therapy) in 2006. Rebekah joined the Merivale Hand Clinic in 2007 and attained registration as a Hand Therapist with the New Zealand Association of Hand Therapists in 2010. She has completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Hand Therapy and Biomechanics. Rebekah's interest includes hand therapy research and new innovations.

	Johanna Buick Johanna graduated from the Auckland Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Health Science (Physiotherapy) in 1998. After graduating she worked at Tauranga Hospital in the Cardiorespiratory and Intensive Care Units, and then moved to Rotorua's Queen Elizabeth Hospital gaining rheumatolgy and orthopaedic inpatient experience. Since then she has worked primarily in musculoskeletal private practice. Her physiotherapy career has been interspersed with breaks of competitive road cycling. Johanna spent two years racing in America, one year in France and a year in Italy with national squads and professional teams. She then spent a further two years living in france with her husband and daughter, doing some casual work for Triathlon NZ at their European training Centre. Johanna returned to New Zealand at the end of 2008 and works part time for the Merivale Hand Clinic. Joh still enjoys riding for fitness. In 2009 Johanna completed the Post Graduate Hand and Upper Limb Therapy paper at Auckland Institute of Technology. Joh became a Registered Hand Therapist in 2010.

	Janet Brookes Janet graduated from the Otago School of Physiotherapy and has over 25 years experience as a physiotherapist. She initially began work as a staff physiotherapist in Invercargill before moving to Christchurch. Janet then travelled and worked overseas during the 1980''s gaining extensive experience while working in the private and public sector in England, Dubai and Saudi Arabia. Janet returned to Christchurch Hospital and worked in neurology and orthopaedic rehabilitation for several years before returning to work in the private sector. It was during this time her interest in upper limb and especially hand injuries developed. Janet began work in the Merivale Hand Clinic in 1995 before leaving to have a family in 2000. More recently she has returned to the clinic and is currently working towards registration as a Hand Therapist. Her areas of specific interest include elbow and forearm pathologies and soft tissue injuries.

	Anne Nooney Anne graduated from the National University of Galway in 2001 with a Bsc(Hons) in Physiology. She moved to Scotland to pursue a career in physiotherapy and obtained a MSc in Physiotherapy in 2004. Anne worked in Oxford for six years specialising in the field of musculoskeletal physiotherapy. She was inspired during a rotation in Hands and Plastics to specialise in Hand Therapy. Anne moved to New Zealand in 2009 and is a keen sports enthusiast enjoying mountain biking, surfing and tramping. Her interest in hand injuries lead to her approaching the Merivale Hand Clinic for work and she started here in December 2010. Anne is completing her post graduate certificate in hand and upper limb therapy at the Auckland University of Technology.

	Dorothy Aitken-Edwards Dorothy is working as a locum at the Merivale Hand Clinic. Dorothy is a New Zealand Registered Hand Therapist and has recently passed the American Hand Therapy Certification Examination, one of nine Hand Therapist's in New Zealand to have done so.

	Rebecca Darby Rebecca graduated from the University of Sydney in 2010 with a Bachelor of Applied Science (Occupational Therapy). She worked in workplace rehabilitation specialising in ergonomics and safe manual handling prior to moving to Christchurch in September this year. Rebecca was introduced to hand therapy while on clinical placement at Royal Prince Albert Hospital in Sydney and is thrilled to be able to continue in this field in New Zealand. She has a particular interest in occupational overuse injuries and arthritis.

The team at the Merivale Hand Clinic are all members of the New Zealand Association of Hand Therapists and their respective parent bodies. Each therapist is required to undergo extensive training in Hand Therapy to become a Registered Hand Therapist. Once registered each therapist must undertake continuing professional development to maintain their level of expertise in the management of hand injuries.