Gemma Cummins

Gemma qualified with a BSc (Hons) in Occupational Therapy from the University of Salford in 2003 and has worked in the profession for over twenty years since, across the NHS, adult social care and independent practice.

Her NHS and local authority years covered most of the ground an occupational therapist can cover. She worked as a Senior Occupational Therapist on hospital rotations at Pennine Acute, in specialist learning disability services with Manchester Learning Disability Partnership, and in community teams at Rochdale Council, before running a rapid-response in-reach assessment service at Stepping Hill Hospital and then working as Lead Occupational Therapist for Manchester Foundation Trust. Two things came out of that. She knows the NHS, social services, housing and equipment routes from the inside, and she has seen what people are genuinely left managing once they are home and the professionals have gone.

She founded her own practice, Gem OT, in 2019, and still works directly in specialist neurological rehabilitation every week alongside her private caseload.

Her work is with adults. That covers neurological and physical rehabilitation - stroke, brain injury, spinal cord injury, cauda equina, orthopaedic trauma, amputation and peripheral nerve damage - along with chronic pain, fatigue, and long-term and palliative conditions including mesothelioma. She also works with adults who have learning disabilities, complex cognitive needs or a dual diagnosis, and with questions of mental capacity.

The first home visit is an assessment. It begins as a conversation: what you are finding difficult, what a normal day looks like at the moment, and what you would most like to be able to do again. From there Gemma assesses function properly - moving around the home, washing and dressing, cooking, managing medication, getting out - and builds the plan around your goals rather than working to a standard programme.

Where it goes next depends on what you need. It might be rehabilitation that uses everyday activity to rebuild cognitive skills such as memory and concentration, or executive skills such as planning, problem-solving and simply getting started; upper limb function, walking and moving; fatigue, sleep, mood and behaviour. Executive function is often where the real problem sits. Someone can score well on a formal cognitive screen and still be unable to run a kitchen or a working day, and it takes an objective assessment in the home to show it.

It might equally be practical. Aids and equipment, complex moving and handling, risk around daily living activities, and changes to the home itself - from grab rails and half-steps through to level-access showers, stairlifts and ground-floor extensions. Twenty years of community work means Gemma knows when a Disabled Facilities Grant, a medical rehousing application or a PIP or DWP appeal is the better answer than paying privately, and she will say so.

Where work is the goal, she carries out workplace and vocational assessments, recommends reasonable adjustments and assistive equipment, and deals with employers directly - whether that is a first job with a disability, an employment dispute, or returning to a changed role after injury. She is a qualified Functional Capacity Evaluator (Workhab method).

Gemma is an experienced expert witness in personal injury and clinical negligence, preparing care, accommodation and occupational therapy reports from functional assessment, and Immediate Needs Assessments in line with the 2015 Rehabilitation Code. Case managers and solicitors are a regular part of her week. She has case-managed clients overseas in Europe and the United States, and has worked with serving and former military personnel; several case management companies name her as their preferred provider.

She is registered with the HCPC, keeps up regular clinical supervision, and covers Greater Manchester, Cheshire East and Cheshire West through her practice, Gem OT. Her work is with adults only - she does not take children's referrals - and she is herself a mum and the main carer for family members with complex health needs, which is a large part of why she works the way she does.

If you are not certain whether occupational therapy is what you or your relative needs, Gemma is happy to talk it through on the phone first. There is no charge for that call, no GP referral is needed, and there is no obligation to book anything afterwards.