Emma Secker

Qualification: BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy, first class

Area covered: Tyne and Wear, Northumberland

Emma qualified in 2000 with a first-class degree from the Manchester School of Physiotherapy, and has spent twenty-five years in the job — most of it working with people in their own homes.

She trained through NHS rotations in neurology, respiratory and musculoskeletal work, including intensive care, surgery and care of the elderly wards. She then moved into the community and stayed: first in community stroke and community orthopaedic rehabilitation, and later leading a community rehabilitation team for older people, managing both the team and her own caseload of patients working to get their function back.

She is now a Band 7 Macmillan physiotherapist in community palliative care, with particular expertise in degenerative neurological conditions such as MND and PSP, and in advance care planning. Alongside that she is trained in acupuncture — including acupuncture for palliative care — in TENS for pain management, and in the Bobath approach to neurological rehabilitation. She has also completed advanced communication skills training, the course that deals with the conversations families find hardest, and she is a qualified clinical educator who supervises and trains student physiotherapists.

“I really wanted a career which was rewarding and fulfilling and physiotherapy has not disappointed! I enjoy community work as I like working with people in their own homes to understand what really matters to them and to help them achieve their best level of functioning and improve their quality of life.”