This is a dynamic day of clinical insight, AI innovation, and bold leadership conversations—uniting top MSK thinkers from Chris Mercer to Roger Kerry to shape the future of physiotherapy at the crossroads of complexity and change.
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"In person learning; engaging, articulate, and thoroughly interesting speakers; enjoyed variety of subjects covered; sociable, welcoming atmosphere and chance to network in relatively intimate environment"
Speakers and biogpraphies:
Jayne Davies
Jayne works as an Advanced Practice Physiotherapist and also is Clinical Lead of MSK Specialist and MSK Physio Services in Cambridgeshire, Dynamic Health, East of England Community Health and Care NHS Trust (formerly Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS trust).
At the end of 2024 and early 2025 GIRFT further faster money was used to address the MSK physio waiting list within Dynamic Health. As part of this process dynamic health embarked on a project with Flok health to deliver AI physiotherapy for patients with low back pain. This project has recently won the following HSJ award "Primary and Community Care Project of the Year".
Jayne qualified in 1984 and soon after specialised in MSK. She completed MSc at UEA gaining MACP membership. She was involved in MACP mentorship and examination of MACP students 2002 - 2012. She has been guest lecturer on MSc modules leading to MACP membership
Jayne was the PDC Chair for 6 years creating and running a series of successful CPD courses for members and non-members. She was made an MACP Fellow in 2021
Chris Efford
Chris Efford is MSK Therapy Service Lead at University Hospitals Dorset, providing leadership across musculoskeletal outpatients, hand therapy, and pelvic health services.
He is an Artificial Intelligence Fellowship alumni with NHS England, with expertise in clinical AI and digital clinical safety, including the development and localisation of safety cases and governance frameworks for AI-enabled technologies. He has also completed a digital fellowship with NHS Dorset Integrated Care Board.
Chris qualified as a physiotherapist from King’s College London in 2010 and has over 15 years’ experience at University Hospitals Dorset, specialising in orthopaedics and MSK practice. He completed his PhD at University of Southampton in 2023, focused on orthopaedic rehabilitation.
His current work focuses on the safe implementation of AI in clinical practice and the evaluation of digital technologies to improve patient care and workforce efficiency
Dr Vasilieos Georgopoulos
Hon Prof. Ian Horsley
Biography-Hon Prof. Ian Horsley PhD, MCSP, MMACP, CSCS
Ian has been a physiotherapist for over 34 years. He worked as a physiotherapist for England Rugby Union, for 14 years, with various teams, and spent the last 9 years working with the Elite Playing squad, as physiotherapist to England ‘A’ teams.
Currently Ian is Athlete Health Lead (Upper Limb) for the UK Sports Institute, Clinical Director of Back in Action Rehabilitation, in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, associate lecturer at Salford University, and member of the EdCom for EUSSER and BESS, along with the many one- and two-day courses he teaches across Europe.
He concluded his PhD in 2103 examining the issues around shoulder injuries in professional rugby and has published several articles in peer reviewed journals on the subject of musculoskeletal injury management and contributed chapters to several books on sports injury management.
He worked as part of the HQ medical team for Team England at the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games, was a member of the Team GB HQ medical team at the 2012, 2016 and 2020/21 and 2024 Olympic Games and currently is a Consultant Physiotherapist to England Football.
In his spare time, Ian spends most of his time trying to learn to play golf, cycling, supporting Barnsley FC and having some quality time with his wife now the children have grown.
Ash James
Director of Practice and Development at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
As the current Director of Practice and Development at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Ash over sees physiotherapy practice, research and development, and workforce and education. He has a passion for reducing health inequalities, maximising the potential of the physiotherapy workforce, the move of care closer to people’s homes, and the implementation of new technology into care. He has a data driven focus and wants to ensure the profession is set up for the future in their ability to collect, interpret and utilise data of all types.
Ash is a physiotherapist by background with over 15 years of clinical, education and leadership experience across different MSK environments. These include the National Health Service, in private occupational health, professional sport with Welsh Rugby, as a national education lead for an independent provider of NHS care, as well as lecturing and research at Manchester Metropolitan University. Ash is currently doing his master’s in leadership, innovation and management at the University of York.
Roger Kerry
Roger Kerry is Professor of Physiotherapy Education in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham, UK. He is a Chartered Physiotherapist, and an Honorary Fellow of the UK’s Musculoskeletal Association of Chartered Physiotherapists. His main clinical research interests have been in adverse events and physiotherapy interventions of the head and neck, particularly on the causal nature of the interventions.
Roger is a member of several international working groups related to best practice for the management of head and neck pain. Roger also undertakes research activity in the Philosophy of Science, investigating the nature of causation in evidence-based healthcare and clinical reasoning - this was the focus of his PhD. He is well- published in these areas and has been an invited speaker at numerous international conferences.
Roger has won several teaching awards, including two prestigious Lord Dearing Awards for Teaching & Learning following his work on the use of social media in education. In other news, Roger is an ultra-runner, a BBC Introducing singer-songwriter, and a member of the UK’s top Americana/Country bands Seven Dark Lords and Lawrence County.
Dr Neil Langridge
Dr Neil Langridge
BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy MSc DClinP PGCert FCSP FMACP
Neil is the Director for Clinical services and Assoc Professor at Health Sciences University who has been a member of the MACP since 2002. He was worked in the NHS, M.O.D and private sector. After completing his MSc at the University of Brighton he went on to complete a clinical doctorate at the University of Southampton publishing his work in the Journal of Musculoskeletal Science and Practice.
Neil has presented on musculoskeletal practice across countries around the world, published widely, whilst teaching extensively in the UK in numerous environments. He has previously served on the MACP committees as Chair of the CEA, research officer and Vice chair and supported the scientific committee for content at PhysioUK.
Elected as Chair in 2022 Neil leads the Executive across all functions of the organisation.
Matthew Low
Matt is a Consultant Physiotherapist at University Hospitals Dorset Foundation NHS Trust and is a visiting associate at the Orthopaedic Research Institute at Bournemouth University. He qualified from the University of Southampton and completed a Masters degree in Neuromusculoskeletal Physiotherapy at the University of Brighton. He has lectured on subjects such as motor control, spinal manipulation and clinical reasoning skills. He has interests in compassionate person-centred care, the theory of causation within the healthcare setting, philosophy, reflective practice and critical thinking skills.
Alexander McCall
Alexander McCall is a Consultant Physiotherapist and Advanced Physiotherapy Practitioner with over 25 years of experience across the NHS, elite sport, and private practice. He has recently been appointed as Consultant Physiotherapist within the Ministry of Defence, where he will specialise in the management and treatment of complex musculoskeletal conditions. Alongside this, he will continue his role at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham, focusing on complex knee, shoulder, and young adult hip conditions.
His clinical work centres on advanced clinical reasoning in the assessment and management of complex musculoskeletal presentations. Practising at an extended scope level, he integrates diagnostic imaging, independent prescribing, and injection therapy to support high-level, evidence-informed decision making in secondary care.
Alexander has been heavily involved in the development of advanced practice roles and MSK pathways, with a focus on optimising patient flow, reducing surgical burden, and improving clinical outcomes through expert-led assessment and intervention.
Teaching is a key part of his professional practice. He has delivered both undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the University of Birmingham, specialising in clinical reasoning and manual therapy, and is actively involved in the education and mentorship of Advanced Practice Physiotherapists, SEM registrars, and orthopaedic trainees.
Alexander's work reflects a strong interest in the application of expert clinical reasoning to real-world complexity, bridging the gap between theory, evidence, and advanced musculoskeletal practice.
Chris Mercer
Chris Mercer is a consultant musculoskeletal physiotherapist and Clinical Director for Sussex MSK health, a community MSK service on the South Coast of England, leading a team of 470 clinicians working across MSK physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry, osteopathy, pain and rheumatology. He is currently co-chair of the National Physiotherapy Consultant professional network in the UK, and co-chair of the UK Musculoskeletal Partnership group of over 40 organisations with an interest in MSK health. Chris was national clinical lead for the NHS England Best MSK health primary and community programme, helping to develop national clinical pathways and policy relating to MSK health.
He has contributed to multiple national documents and guidelines relating to MSK care and advanced practice roles in MSK. He has a keen interest in serious spinal pathology and teaches widely on the topic for the Musculoskeletal Association of Chartered Physiotherapists (MACP) and on several post graduate university courses. He has supervised over 50 post-graduate MACP clinical practice placements. He has published several peer reviewed papers relating to serious spinal pathology and professional practice.
He is a keen, if not very talented kickboxer and surfer, and an even less talented guitarist.
Dr Tim Noblet
Dr Tim Noblet is a Consultant Physiotherapist at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, specialising in musculoskeletal and spinal pain. He combines senior clinical leadership with an active clinical academic portfolio.
He leads advanced practice services across primary to tertiary care and holds multiple honorary and adjunct academic appointments internationally. His research programme centres on precision rehabilitation, psychologically informed practice, and workforce development, including UK leadership of the COMPASS (Comprehensive 360° Assessment of Spinal Pain) programme within the SPINA registry. He has secured competitive funding from NIHR, CSP, and charitable sources and is actively developing predictive models and personalised care pathways.
Over the past five years, Dr Noblet has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals on advanced practice, pain care, and outcome measurement, and is a regular invited speaker at national and international conferences. He plays a key role in shaping advanced practice standards and credentialing frameworks in the UK and contributes to global workforce development initiatives in physiotherapy.
Samantha Simmonds
Samantha is a consultant Physiotherapist for Dorset Health Care and leads their Spinal Triage and Treat service. Prior to this she was an advanced practitioner for University Hospitals Sussex, this was combined this with a leadership role in FCP for Sussex Community Foundation Trust.
She graduated from University of Brighton in 2005, and after completing her band 5 rotations went on to specialise in MSK. She returned to the University of Brighton a few years later where she completed her MSc in NMS physiotherapy; gaining MACP membership.
Samantha is passionate about clinical education and development, having been a member of the PDC committee for several years prior to joining the exec team, helping with the development and promotion of MACP courses. She is also involved in mentoring and examining MSc students on their route to MACP membership.
Dr Jackie Walumbe
PhD (Primary Care), MSc (Global Public Health and Policy), MSc (Pain), BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy
Jackie is a clinical academic physiotherapist at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Jackie works with multidisciplinary teams and is involved in the management of complex pain in an integrated system across specialities as well as primary, community, secondary and tertiary care. Focussing on broadly critical perspectives and applied qualitative methodologies, she is building a research programme exploring different models of pain care, ethics, health inequities and epistemic practices.
Jackie is currently a knowledge mobilisation fellow funded by the NIHR North Thames ARC where her work involves developing, implementing, and evaluating strategies to embed evidence for chronic pain into multi-professional practice using participatory approaches. She hopes this will inform a practical case study of moving evidence into practice.
Photos from last year's study day:
