Your Physiotherapist at Physiotherapy Cancer Care 

Since obtaining a BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy at the university of Brighton and becoming a registered, chartered physiotherapist in 1993, Caroline has gained experience working in a wide variety of settings.

In 1996 Caroline specialised in respiratory at Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and was an integral part of the adult cystic fibrosis team. From September 2000 Caroline specialised her respiratory expertise further in the field of oncology and palliative care. During the next three years she successfully ran a breathlessness clinic for people with primary and secondary lung cancer using the non-pharmacological approach, presenting talks at Bournemouth University, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Dorset County Hospital NHS Trust, Lewis Manning Hospice and the Association of Chartered Society of Physiotherapists in Oncology and Palliative Care (ACPOPC) spring conference. The Dorset Cancer Network recognised Caroline as a breathlessness physiotherapist specialist in 2002 and she represented physiotherapists on the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines for lung cancer from 2003 to 2005.  

Caroline’s work has also included covering a specialist palliative day care centre, which was the focus of her interest in rehabilitation within the palliative care setting, leading to her MSc research undertaken on this topic and presented at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) congress in October 2003 and then at the United Kingdom Association of Cancer Registries (UKACR) in September 2008. This research was published in the September 2004 issue of the International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation. A further paper has been written for the peer-reviewed journal, Groupwork, which is due to be published shortly.

From 2003 to 2006 Caroline assisted in the development of the physiotherapy service for people with cancer at Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and successfully completed The Macmillan National Institute of Education (MINIE) certificate for Macmillan mentorship at the University of Plymouth in 2006. During the period 2005 to 2006 Caroline also carried out contract work (self-employed) as a specialist-training consultant for Rehab Plus. The latter involved writing and presenting oncology evidence based courses for Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists in various locations around the Uk. Caroline was then appointed as a physiotherapy lecturer at Bournemouth University in 2006, completing her postgraduate certificate in Health and Social Care Education in 2008 and is currently working towards her Doctorate in Professional Practice (DProf). To remain clinically up to date and support her practice partners Caroline has an honorary contract with Christchurch Macmillan Unit.