Professional committee

Dr Mhairi Brandon

Dr Mhairi Brandon is a consultant physiotherapist/musculoskeletal sonographer based at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde. She has a keen interest in musculoskeletal medicine and recently developed programmes in musculoskeletal diagnostic ultrasound (MSUS) and interventions for allied health professional programmes. She received a professional doctorate in 2012 and was awarded a fellowship by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy in November 2017.

She has led innovative projects to develop advanced physiotherapy practitioners to implement ambulatory care models. These models establish ‘one-stop clinics’ that incorporate MSUS into practice for the delivery of complete client case management. She has presented widely internationally on the impact of ultrasound imaging on clinical practice across the Caribbean and in Europe, subsequently working in partnership to develop educational teaching programmes.

Nick Livadas (Chair)

Nick is a senior lecturer in physiotherapy at Teesside University. He combines his academic role with clinical practice at a thriving Newcastle private practice where he acts as clinical lead for the NHS, private and occupational health arms of the business. He has worked in advanced musculoskeletal practice roles and has experience in developing clinical governance and quality assurance standards. Nick has previously held committee positions as research officer and chair of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Orthopaedic Medicine and Injection Therapy professional network. He has a keen interest in professional development, which led to him founding and now chairing the North East Musculoskeletal Society.

Vicky Reynolds-Cocroft

Vicky is a band 6 rotation physiotherapist in an NHS district general hospital in West Norfolk, specialising in respiratory and surgery. She is a current clinical educator and has an interest in learning and development. She has been an active member of the CSP since she was a student and more recently a workplace steward and member of the national group of regional stewards. The appointment to the professional committee gives her the opportunity to experience the CSP from the clinical, educational and trade union aspects.

David Williams (Vice-Chair)

David is a physiotherapist with a portfolio career interested in clinical and system leadership, digital innovation, and workforce development. David completed Junior Physiotherapy Rotations at the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton (UDHB) before specialising in musculoskeletal physiotherapy. He also completed a Chief Nurse Junior Fellowship during this period, leading quality improvement work for early career allied health professionals.

David has sought the opportunity to develop laterally and joined the Digital Services Department as a Digital Specialist Physiotherapist, whereby he develops digital services within clinical teams. Alongside this, he leads the Armed Forces Network at UHDB and is passionate about improving veteran care and increasing collaboration with the defence community. He recently led UDHB to obtain the nationally recognised Defence Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award.

David is currently seconded to NHS England as a Regional Clinical Leadership Fellow within the Midlands region.

In 2022, David was appointed Vice-Chair of the Professional Committee. After being identified as a future digital leader, he was awarded the Federation for Informatics Professionals 35 under 35 bursary. He is also a Staff Governor at UHDB and a Community Governor at Staffordshire University Academy.

Dr Jackie Waterfield

Jackie joined Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, in 2017 as a professor and head of a division of health programmes. After a successful career as a clinical physiotherapist, she moved to education in 1998 and has worked extensively with other higher education institutions (HEIs) in the  UK and overseas, both directly and through engagement with the CSP and the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Jackie has been an independent reviewer for the validation of qualifying and postgraduate programmes, and has conducted reviews, and mediated in challenging and complex cases at other HEIs. She was a member of the CSP Council during the governance transformation period and has chaired the education committee. Recently, she chaired the Scientific Committee of the International Education Conference of the WCPT. In 2014, she received a National Teaching Fellowship from the Higher Education Academy. 

Sandra Harding

Sandra is a chartered and HCPC-registered physiotherapist with more than 30 years’ experience in the public and private healthcare sector, and has managed several clinical services, an independent hospital and more latterly the national physiotherapy service for BMI Healthcare which covered 58 sites and more than 900 staff.

In 2017, Sandra resigned from a national physiotherapy role to start a clinical advisory service (PAL) supporting other clinicians' evidence regulatory compliance. In 2021, the business rebranded (HCPG) and expanded to support more clinical professions. In January 2022, Sandra will joined the board of an NHS Hospital as an associate non-executive director.

Sandra is also a proud Trustee of POhWER, a national advocacy charity, a long-serving primary school vice-chair of governors, a Winston Churchill Fellow, and a parish councillor. She has a love of family, exercise and food, and alongside her career, is kept busy at home with a menagerie thanks to her daughters!

Sarah Dewhurst

Sarah worked in a variety of clinical settings before specialising in oncology rehabilitation and moving to the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust in 2010. She completed an MSc in rehabilitation in 2015 and enjoys working in a 'research active' department. Following a two-year secondment with Macmillan Cancer Care, she is now the service lead for 'living with and beyond cancer', which allows her to pursue her particular interest in exercise oncology. Sarah undertook a Churchill Fellowship in 2019 and now leads an informal network of physiotherapists who share her passion for promoting exercise in the field of cancer. 

Sarah is also the lead AHP on a programme of work run by the Office of Health Improvements and Disparities (OHID, formerly Public Health England) and is proud to promote the role of AHPs in the public health agenda on physical activity. 

Sarah is delighted to have gained a position on the professional committee and hopes to bring her professional and leadership experience to the role in support of the CSP and its members. 

Claire George

Claire successfully splits her time working as a rotational physiotherapist at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital in Shropshire and as a specialist MSK physiotherapist for the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board in North Wales.

Alongside her clinical role, she is studying for a MSc in health leadership because of her passion for improvement and development through best practice. Additionally, Claire’s recent clinical audit, investigating physical activity levels, has been published and disseminated nationally at Physio UK. Claire is an alumnus of the prestigious Versus Arthritis intern scheme. 

Being a core member of the West Midlands Regional Network, Claire has committee experience at a local level. She is now relishing the opportunity to provide expertise and insight on significant physiotherapy practice, learning and development issues and influencing on a national scale.  

Adam Gold

Adam Gold is as an advanced practice physiotherapist working in MSK/orthopaedics. He is clinical lead for the interface and first contact practitioner services in North Somerset. He also has a role in secondary care in a specialist shoulder clinic. Adam has a keen interest in the safety and best use of medicines and prescribing and has developed local policies for injection and non-medical prescribing. Adam is now working as a DPS and is working towards being a DPP. Adam is involved with many quality improvement projects and leads on the MSK safety and patient satisfaction group for Sirona.

Iona Bateman

Iona is a second year BSc physiotherapy student at the University of Southampton where she has already shown a keen interest in advocacy, leadership and innovation. She is the president of the Southampton Physiotherapy Society, student officer for the CSP DisAbility network and equity, diversity and belonging officer for the CSP Student Reference Group.  
 
In addition to her studies, Iona also works as an actor for educational healthcare simulation and has founded a health tech start-up company and student-led sports massage social enterprise. 
 
As a mature student with a disability who faced discrimination when applying to university, Iona is driven to remove the barriers to the profession faced by many applicants from diverse backgrounds. With her position on the professional committee spanning the final two years of university study and the first two years of employment, Iona is looking forward to representing the voice of students and newly qualified physiotherapists.  

Dr Laran Chetty

Laran is a senior physiotherapist at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and specialises in occupational health, ergonomics and vocational rehabilitation. He has worked in the NHS, private sector and abroad since 2002. Laran was part of the executive committee of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Occupational Health and Ergonomics and held joint positions as the equality and diversity officer and e-news editor. Laran is also actively involved with the CSP’s BAME network and has represented the network at the TUC Black Workers Conference and at the Annual Representative Conference. In 2020, he was presented with the Outstanding Occupational Health Practitioner Award by the Society of Occupational Medicine.

Ben Herberts

Ben completed a degree in exercise science health and rehabilitation before working as a physiotherapy assistant for many years in a vascular and amputee team. After completing an MSc in physiotherapy, Ben worked in a variety of areas around the country and in a variety of NHS settings. However, he has predominantly worked within community rehab settings. Ben has completed guest lecturing at university institutions and has been a lead educator for students in previous clinical roles.

Ben is currently a clinical lead mental health physiotherapist for Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust. As well as having a keen interest in mental health and physios' impact/role in mental health, he is also interested in falls, amputee rehab and research. Ben has had research published in the Physiotherapy journal and has future ambitions of completing research into mental health in physiotherapy.