Team

Birchwood Physiotherapy has a team of highly skilled Chartered Physiotherapists with many years of experience in a range of specialisms. All Physiotherapists are registered with the Health Care Professions Council and are members of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. Between them they are registered and hold memberships with Physio First – Private Physiotherapists Association, The Acupuncture Association of Physiotherapists, The Musculoskeletal Association of Chartered Physiotherapists and The Primary Care Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Society.

Our successful team has grown from a sole practitioner, Alison Tarleton-Hodgson, in 1998 to a team of 7 today. Within the team we also provide a musculoskeletal specialist service as First Contact Practitioners for Poole based GP surgeries and thoroughly enjoy our work within an NHS setting.
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Helen Legg

Helen Legg – Admin Manager

Helen is the lynchpin that holds Birchwood Physiotherapy together and is your first point of contact as a patient at Birchwood Physiotherapy, she will ensure all the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed when arranging your appointment.

Her job involves booking and liaising with you, as well as dealing directly with our referring insurance companies and ensuring the Physiotherapists know what they’re doing on a day to day basis. She’s particularly excited about our new integrated clinic software which will make her life so much easier.

Helen grew up locally and after leaving school worked in the Civil Service for 10 years, where in the latter years she became a regional staff trainer. She has been working with Alison and the team at Birchwood Physiotherapy for the past 11 years, where her role has evolved as the business has grown from strength to strength.

Her interests include exercising, yoga and walking, particularly along the coast, and spending time with her family – especially going on holiday to Disney!

Alison Tarleton-Hodgson

Alison Tarleton-Hodgson – Grad. Dip. Phys. MCSP

Alison qualified as a Physiotherapist from Kings College Hospital London in 1984 where she quickly developed a passion and gifting in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy.
In 1998 Alison started her own private practice at Birchwood Medical Centre which continued to grow, becoming the thriving Birchwood Physiotherapy you see today. Alison is a member of Physio First and proud to be awarded Quality Assured Practitioner status in 2018. The NHS side of the practice has also developed to include a direct access service for Poole North and First Contact Practitioner work for Poole Central GP surgeries. This enables a strong working relationship with local GPs and a knowledge of community services available to help and sign post local people to as they seek to improve their health and fitness.

Alison likes to take a holistic approach to her treatments acknowledging the strong connection between the mind and body which has been shown to influence both rate of recovery from injury and episodes of recurrence. Alison takes time to further assess how the body moves, identifying altered movement patterns which can lead to dysfunctions and injury. She will facilitate this by using a variety of skills honed from the wealth of experience she has gained over the years, including using her training in BeActivated Therapy. Patients will benefit from individually tailored exercise and self management programmes and will feel empowered and educated to invest in their own recovery.

When Alison is not at work she loves to holiday with her husband and spend time with her grown up children and grandchildren. She enjoys keeping herself fit and healthy with cycling, HIT exercises and walking as well as ensuring she keeps some quieter reflection times to help her keep perspective in this busy world.

Paul Noble

Paul Noble – BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy – BSc (Hons) Sports Science, MCSP

Paul graduated from Brunel University in 2000 and is a skilled Physiotherapist with over 20 years experience. He has worked in private practice for over 15 years and has developed a specialism for running related injuries, running gait analysis and strengthening for runners. He has a solid working relationship with many Dorset Consultants to ensure seamless rehabilitative care following patient surgery. He is regularly referred all manner of musculoskeletal cases including; spinal, hip, shoulder, knee, foot and ankle as well, of course, as all running related injuries.

He has worked for 15 years on site at a large corporate bank in Bournemouth delivering quality Private Physiotherapy enabling a quick resolution of aches and pain for the grateful staff. The West Hants Club also hosted Paul as he worked alongside Tennis coaches, Strength & Conditioning coaches and academy staff providing tailored Physiotherapy to the Elite level youth players as well as the wider gym audience. He has worked in a variety of other settings providing Physiotherapy to QPR Football Club academy players, Poole based military personnel and 4MUK adventure participants.

He has written numerous articles for various media outlets including Men’s Health and he is passionate about helping to restore fitness and health to individuals with injuries to get them back doing what they love quickly. As well as seeing private clients he also works as an FCP in Poole based GP surgeries.

A First Contact Practitioner is a Musculoskeletal (MSK) Specialist Physiotherapist who works along side GPs and other surgery based health professionals to manage MSK cases at the first point of contact to reduce pressure on the GPs.

Helen Gordon

Helen Gordon – BSc (Hons), Grad. Dip. Phys. MCSP

Helen qualified from the Middlesex Hospital, London in 1989 and has worked as a Physiotherapist ever since. She has worked in the NHS for 21 years both in outpatients and running her own clinics in various GP surgeries as well as four years experience in a specialist chronic pain management team. Over this time she has also worked for several different private practices in Essex and Dorset.

Since qualifying she has gone on to develop a special interest in muscle energy techniques, myofascial release and joint mobilisation/manipulation techniques based on the Mulligan, Maitland & Cyriax concepts. More recently she has studied activation therapy and techniques treating the body’s fascial system, enabling her to effectively treat whole body problems in an integrated way.

She has been practising acupuncture since 2001 and is a registered member of the Acupuncture Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (AACP). She also has experience running classes in cardiovascular exercise, core stability, posture and relaxation plus classes for rehabilitation of knee, ankle and low back problems. She has had many years experience of treating various types of sports injuries.

Outside work, she sings in a local singing group and her church choir, loves walking in the beautiful Dorset countryside with her dog Bilbo and going on road trips riding pillion on her husband’s motorbike.

Helen also works from her own practice at Wareham Physiotherapy

James Rainsbury

James Rainsbury – BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy, MCSP

James qualified from the University of the West of England, Bristol, in 2019 and has worked in various Physiotherapy roles ranging including intensive care,  trauma & orthopaedics and musculoskeletal outpatients. He is passionate about helping people reach their potential and getting them back to doing the things they love the most.

He believes in a holistic approach to Physiotherapy, with particular interests including strength and conditioning rehabilitation, hands on treatment, nutrition, sleep and behavioural change education. He is a qualified sports massage therapist, with over 5 years experience and is skilled at utilising soft tissue release techniques to restore optimal function. James works closely with his patients, offering bespoke exercise rehabilitation to ensure they feel empowered to reach their goals.

James likes to keep up to date with the most recent evidence base in Physiotherapy treatment so he can be as effective and efficient as possible with his treatments. James is a keen runner and is currently training for an August 2021 South Coast Marathon Challenge in aid of Malaria Consortium.

Katherine Binning

Katharine Binning  – Grad. Dip. Phys.  MCSP

Katharine trained and qualified as a Physiotherapist in Glasgow Caledonian University where she worked for two years before moving to gain further experience in The Channel Isles. There she honed her musculoskeletal skills whilst spending time with patients in an acute injury / A+E, Orthopaedic and Fracture Clinic, Trauma and Post-operative Rehabilitation and Hydrotherapy settings.

Katharine combined her love of travel and rehabilitation and undertook work in Eritrea, helping to restore the lives of lower limb Amputees during the civil conflict. Katharine’s role extended to include training Physiotherapy assistants in an underground hospital.

She has always considered it a privilege to work as part of a holistic rehabilitation team helping her clients on their recovery journey from full dependence and immobility to a life of independence and healing. Katharine has worked at all levels of the rehabilitation journey from pre operative, post surgical, inpatient hospital therapy, outpatient clinic settings and home visits / home based therapy.

Since joining Birchwood in 2017 She has been able to show her compassionate nature and utilise her many years of experience to help individuals with their rehabilitation needs either in their own home or in the clinic where each treatment plan is tailored to help her patients achieve their goals and expectations.

Katharine feels enormously blessed to have moved to beautiful Dorset and loves getting outside, whether for long walks, playing golf or taking her dog kayaking on the River Stour. At home she enjoys cooking for friends, listening to classical music and pouring them a glass of decent red. She is a keen and accomplished traveller and particularly loves Israel, The Greek islands and Skiing in The Canadian Rockies.

Stacey Hamilton

Stacey Hamilton – BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy, MCSP

Stacey graduated as a Physiotherapist from Salford University in 2011 and her first post was working within a Rapid Response Team within Tameside both at Tameside Hospital helping facilitate the discharge of patients from hospital to the Tameside community and then providing rehabilitation and care support to the patients in their homes.

Moving South to Poole, Stacey joined the Birchwood Physiotherapy team in 2015, working both NHS and private clinics treating a variety of musculoskeletal conditions taking an holistic approach when devising home exercise programmes specific to the client and their condition(s). Stacey has a keen interest in Pilates so will utilise concepts of core strengthening of core strengthening within her treatments.

Away from work, Stacey has a young son so likes to spend family days out walking and exploring the South Coast and has an interest in all sports, especially running being an ex-county sprinter for Humberside and playing tennis where she previously represented the Army whilst a member of the Armed Forces.

Due to her love of football, Stacey has also worked part time at Stalybridge Celtic FC and then Glossop North End FC treating first team players from on-field injuries back to full fitness with rehabilitation programmes. Alongside completing her degree, Stacey also completed her Level 4 VTCT qualification in Sports Massage and through this, has worked at Warrington Wolves FC and at the Olympic Games in London 2012 providing treatment for international athletes at both the London Stadium and Newham training venue. Stacey has also spent 3 years working at the Leaf Academy in Bournemouth helping rehabilitate students in Specialist Sports and Performing Arts.

Alex Moore – Dip Bmp

Alex has been a trained Sports Massage therapist since 2011 and is also a trained Sports Therapist. He has previous experience of working the fitness industry, working in various roles such as Fitness Coach, Group Exercise and in management roles. Since 2014 he has successfully run his own private Pilates classes combining his Sports therapy skills with his Pilates experience.

Alongside this he has worked with a number of patients delivering Sports Massage treatment to help alleviate pain and discomfort, as well as delivering Sports Therapy sessions to help those dealing with pain either in their Sporting Activities (whether on a professional or amateur level) or those who have pain with their everyday activities. In particular he has worked with and successfully rehabbed a number of professional dancers and performers.