Silver Fern Therapy started life in 2013, although it was under a different name, Alter Ergo. Back then, I had just finished an MSc in Ergonomics and thought a career in that field was on the cards, so naming the business with a nod to ergonomics made sense.
Although I completed a bit of Ergonomics work, my passion for wheelchair provision shone through and Ergonomics was quickly put on the backburner. The business name was changed in 2017.
Silver Fern Therapy is run by me and my wife Liz, who is a neuro physiotherapist. Liz has taken a back seat for the moment – she also works for the NHS and when she’s not in work, our two daughters keep her more than busy. There are very few companies doing what we do, so we want to make a real statement in the industry and improve the service that wheelchair users receive. Too many wheelchair users are missing out on clinical input into their wheelchair provision. For the very basic users, this might not make a difference, but for full-time wheelchair users, correct prescription can change their lives.
An appropriately-prescribed wheelchair will increase function and enable the user to mobilise in the most efficient way possible. It will also minimise the chance of further disability – whether that be soft tissue overuse injury, muscle shortening, or pressure ulcers. Not everything is possible when it comes to wheelchair prescription, but having our clinical input often means the best possible compromise can be reached.
We’ve made a few links with wheelchair retailers, so instead of simply prescribing equipment and then running for the hills, we lead every patient through the entire process from assessment to handover and review. If something isn’t right, we work with the retailer and the patient to fix it.
Product trials are really important to us. We’re one of the UK’s only clinical providers who hold their own demonstration stock. We want to ensure that anything we recommend is going to be right for you – if we don’t have what you need, we’ll order it in from one of our retail or manufacturing partners.
John Fitzpatrick
My life in wheelchair prescription started in 2002, straight after I had finished studying Occupational Therapy in New Zealand. I was offered a job with a company called Seating to Go, who attended a careers day during our final year. They interviewed me sat at a picnic table in the sun outside the OT school. They liked the idea that I was a cyclist and could confidently wield an allen key and a spanner.
Seating To Go had a super-experienced team and I learnt so much in the 18 months I spent with them. My job was entirely related to wheelchair prescription and I saw an enormous range of presentations. It gave me the base of knowledge that I still use today.
I came to the UK in 2004. My plan of staying in the UK for a two year working holiday has evolved into 16 years, a wife and two kids!
Since then, I’ve switched a few times between sales and clinical roles but I’ve never left the wheelchair industry. I’ve been based in South Wales since 2005, being employed by Cardiff & Vale NHS Trust for 6 years and then Sunrise Medical as Area Sales Manager for 7 years.
In 2018, I left Sunrise Medical to focus solely on Silver Fern Therapy, which had started as not much more than a hobby a few years before.
Outside of work, my two daughters who are 5 and 2 keep me on my toes. I also do a fair bit of running and road cycling.
Rhys Llewellyn
I trained as a volunteer wheelchair skills trainer with BackUp in 2005, and started delivering sessions at NHS spinal units & other residential locations in 2006.
Since then, I’ve delivered skills sessions to many hundreds of new and experienced wheelchair users. I was the first wheelchair skills trainer to provide training at all eleven of the UK’s spinal injuries units. For this, I received BackUp’s Golden Caster Award.
I have taught children under 13 and adults in their 70s and everyone in between. I have worked with people who have sensory impairment in addition to their spinal cord injuries.
I completed the Back Up Wheelchair Skills Training course from the Open College Network in 2015.
I’m a fluent Welsh speaker.
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