Durham

Operations Manager

Hal joined Connect in 2009 after beginning his career in Neurological Rehabilitation. He developed from a Physiotherapist to an Advanced Practice role. Hal now works as an Operations Manager for the Northeast overseeing the South Tyneside FCP and MSK service, Darlington FCP and MSK with integrated Pain and Durham Pain service.
Hal achieved his MSc Physiotherapy in January 2009 with prior qualifications in BSc Physiology and MRes Biomolecular Research. He has previously worked part time for 6 seasons in the NUFC Academy and Northern League Football and has also co-authored 2 published articles. Hal has served since 2016 in the RNLI as crew and is now working to become a Helm. Hal is passionate about shared decision making, personalised care and addressing health inequalities. He will have finished his masters module on: “Addressing Health Inequalities in Healthcare” by December 2023..

Clinical Specialist

Chris has been the Clinical Lead for the Durham and Darlington community pain management contract since January 2020. He is responsible for the clinical standards and line managing the various members the multi-disciplinary team of this service.

Chris qualified as a physiotherapist in 2003 from the University of Manchester and has worked clinically in MSK outpatients for NHS trusts in Gateshead and Northumberland. He has a long held interest in the area of management of long term conditions and persistent pain. He joined the Durham and Darlington pain management service as a clinical specialist pain practitioner in Sept 2019.

Chris the current chair of the North East MSK Society and a committee member for the North British Pain Association. Both organisations have a focus on improving access to high-quality and affordable continuing professional development opportunities to clinicians within the region. He is passionate about delivering patient-centred care and recognises the benefits that values focused, evidence-based, compassionate intervention can have on quality of life.

Deputy team lead

I am ex-miliary and while on active service I sustained several injuries including lower back injury resulting in chronic pain requiring physiotherapy. I was assigned to the physiotherapist who really helped me regain normal function through a lot of rehabilitation. Being impressed with the level of service and the direct impact of their input on my recovery I retrained as a physiotherapist. Once qualified I have joined local physiotherapy teams and worked across Durham and Darlington area, primarily in-patient services across a host of specialities including orthopaedic, intensive care and pulmonary rehabilitation to name a few. However, I had an opportunity to work with the community pain services and I have developed my role to a senior member of staff, working passionately to develop a local service.

I have a young family and spend as much time together as possible and I enjoy my allotment, which I got during the pandemic and would not be without.

Clinical Specialist

I graduated as an Adult Nurse in 2012 from Northumbria University – specialising initially in anaesthetics; which then led me to develop a specific interest in acute and persistent pain management – leading me into a specialist role within the hospital and then into my current role within the community; which I very much enjoy. I am currently undertaking some additional studying in non-medical prescribing, which will be completed in the summer of this year.

I spend my free time with my husband, grown up children and 2 dogs. I like to dabble in the gym – particularly weight training. I am a keen baker and cake decorator. I also like to travel and like nothing better than reading a book on a beach somewhere hot!

Physiotherapist

Kevin is a physiotherapist who has specialised in persistent pain since 2011. He is passionate about helping people living with persistent pain to better understand their pain and improve their quality of life. Kevin rode as part of the Flippin’ Pain peloton on their 5-day tour of the Tees Valley public health campaign in 2023, sharing the latest understanding of pain with the people that need it most, those living with pain and those working with people who live with pain.

Kevin is a father and enjoys spending family time outdoors, especially during BBQ season.

Clinical Psychologist

I am a health psychologist and have worked in persistent pain for the last 8 years. I am interested in how biological, social and psychological factors influence health and illness. When I am not helping people deal with the psychological impact of living with persistent pain, I enjoy practicing yoga and breathwork. I love playing the piano especially Mozart and Chopin and am an avid reader.

Clinical Specialist

Lisa has worked in a variety of areas and locations across the Northeast and some in the Northwest. Including acute inpatient settings, but mainly community roles including CMHT, social care and falls teams. Therefore, working with a variety of long-term conditions, with pain often being a common denominator.

Lisa came to Connect in 2019 and felt it allowed her to use the skills accumulated from the various roles. As an OT my focus is naturally around helping people to improve function and quality of life, based on what is meaningful to them. She likes finding out what makes people tick and helping them to do the things that are important to them.

Lisa enjoys spending time with family, friends and dog, getting out in nature.