Our team

Scott is one of two directors of the Merivale Hand Clinic. Scott joined the clinic in 2007 following a 20 year career working in the field of Sports Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation.

Scott’s roles at the clinic include business development, practice management and development of information systems. Scott's focus over the coming years will be directed towards managing the increased demand for hand therapy services that are already noticeable following the rebuild of Christchurch. This will require ensuring good geographical coverage of our services across Christchurch and North Canterbury so clinicians can deliver these services to patients close to where they live and work.

Abby completed her Physiotherapy degree in 2008 at Otago University. She started working in hand therapy and completed her post graduate qualifications in 2010. Then travelling to the UK to work in London Abby gained experience in busy hand therapy centres within private and NHS hospitals. Abby has been a director since 2016 when she returned from the UK. She currently works at our Moorhouse Hand Clinic with cameo appearances at other clinics when required!

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 Hospital 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 the Clinical Manager and a senior Hand Therapist. Jenny helps with the supervision and training of our therapists and treating complex cases. Areas of interest include wrist and finger fractures.

Amelia graduated from the Otago School of Physiotherapy in 2014, and spent 2 and a half years working at Greymouth hospital working in both inpatient and outpatient physiotherapy roles. In 2017 she left New Zealand to travel and live overseas. Initially, Amelia worked as a locum in the UK both in hand therapy and musculoskeletal physiotherapy, until getting a permanent position at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hand therapy department in London for 3 years. This experience provided Amelia with exposure to a variety of hand injuries and treatment options while working within a large dynamic and forward thinking hand therapy team. As a result, Amelia developed a special interest and skills in the rehabilitation of post trauma and surgical hand conditions.

Amelia works across both the Merivale and Kaiapoi hand clinics. She will be completing the postgraduate Hand and Upper Limb course in 2022 as part of gaining her New Zealand Hand Therapy registration. Out of work Amelia enjoys spending time with family and friends as well as hiking, skiing, running, cycling and yoga.

Katie graduated with a Bachelor of Health Science (Physiotherapy) in 2018, receiving the Top Clinical Student award. Katie became particularly interested in hand therapy, as she loved the complexity involved in managing injuries and conditions affecting the forearm and hand and the creativity required when prescribing rehabilitation programs to return people to work and sport. Katie completed the postgraduate hand and upper limb course to become a registered Hand Therapist in 2021.

Outside of work, Katie enjoys running, tennis, spending time with family and friends and travel. Katie is currently working between the Kaiapoi and Merivale clinics.

Elizna graduated as an Occupational Therapist in 2000 from the University of Stellenbosch. She then lived and worked in the UK to travel and gain experience before returning to Cape Town, South Africa in 2007. As a locum therapist in London Elizna started her training in hand therapy and fell in love with this area of expertise. Back in Cape Town she joined a well-established hand and upper limb clinic and after 2 years started her own private practice which she successfully ran for eleven years. Elizna has been part of the team at the Merivale Hand Clinic since 2019 and become a New Zealand Registered Hand Therapist. Elizna is married and has two young children and when not working she enjoys exploring the beauty of New Zealand with the family, camping and scuba diving.

Jane is originally from Malaysia. She graduated from the Otago School of Physiotherapy in 2014. Since graduating she has been working in the musculoskeletal and sports rehabilitation fields.  Jane has always had a keen interest in hand therapy and is a registered hand therapist. Jane has a special interest in the treatment of elbow injuries. She is well trained in level 1 dry needling. Jane is multilingual and speaks fluent English, Mandarin and Malay.

Melissa graduated from the Auckland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Health Science (Occupational Therapy) in 2010. Since graduating she has moved back to Christchurch and has gained experience in the fields of palliative care, and orthopaedic rehabilitation. Melissa completed Auckland University of Technology’s Post Graduate Hand and Upper Limb Therapy paper in 2012, and gained full Registration in 2014.

Johanna graduated from the Auckland Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Health Science (Physiotherapy) in 1998. Johanna first started work at the Merivale Hand Clinic in 2005 and gained full registration in 2010.  An ex-road cyclist, Johanna has raced throughout the United States and Europe with the NZ national team and with professional trade teams. She has also been a competitive runner, winning a Masters national title in cross country running.  Johanna now mostly runs around after her children, and works between hand therapy clinics.  Her interests include the latest in research and innovation in Hand Therapy.

Tjun joined the Merivale Hand Clinic in 2005. She completed a Bachelor of Physiotherapy from Otago University in 1995 and became a fully registered Hand Therapist in 2007.  Before joining the Merivale Hand Clinic, Tjun worked in hospitals in both Christchurch and in the UK, specifically in Orthopaedics. She loves working in Hand Therapy as it appeals to her functional approach to rehabilitation.

Tjun is married with 3 school aged children, and outside of working enjoys walking, touch rugby, biking, baking and spending time with friends and family.  

Leigh has been working with the Merivale Hand Clinic team since 2007 and gained Hand Therapy Registration in 2009.

Leigh has always held an interest in hand injuries and rehabilitation after graduating as an Occupational 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 is based in the Kaiapoi Hand Clinic and covers all aspects of hand therapy including post surgical rehabilitation for the North Canterbury region.

Rosa graduated from the University of Otago with a Bachelor of Physiotherapy in 2015 and has since carried out her postgraduate studies to become a Registered Hand Therapist.
As a Hand Therapist she has worked in the private sector in Auckland as well as in both private and public sectors in Tauranga and Whangarei. Rosa enjoys all aspects of her work as a hand therapist.

In her spare time Rosa enjoys the ocean, skiing, hiking and her family and friends.

Born and raised in Colorado, Madison completed her undergraduate degree in History at Colorado State University prior to moving to Montana to complete her Master's degree in Occupational Therapy at the University of Mary in 2018. She worked for 2.5 years in Denver at UCHealth Steadman Hawkins Clinic where her love for orthopaedics and hand therapy continued to grow. Curiosity and love of travel led her to New York City where she completed a fellowship in hand therapy at the Hospital for Special Surgery to further specialize in the care of the upper extremity and continue exploration of new cities. During 2022-2023, she continued work as a traveling therapist, moving to new cities and clinics across the western states after completing her Certification in Hand Therapy late 2022. She made the move to New Zealand in March 2024 and is loving exploring all the country has to offer! In her free time, she loves to golf, hike, ski and try new adventures like spelunking! 

Aleisha has come to the Merivale clinic with experience in hand therapy from the Waikato region in both Waikato Hospital and in a private hand therapy practice. Aleisha graduated from Otago School of Occupational Therapy in 2015 and has since completed her post graduate degree in hand and upper limb therapy. Having treated hand conditions over the last 9 years Aleisha has experience in acute trauma, burns and scar management, post-operative and rheumatological conditions. Aleisha is based at the Merivale and Kaiapoi Hand Clinic.

Outside of work Aleisha will be found running, cycling, skiing and involved in competitive gymnastics and managing the Waikato Rowing Club.