November: Spotlight On An Expert - Alex Heaps

This month we introduce Occupational Therapy Expert Witness, Alexander Heaps, who became an expert witness with us in 2023.

I became interested in Occupational Therapy (OT) after starting work as rehabilitation assistant for the Brain Injury Rehabilitation (BIRT). Before then, I had been working in the outdoor sports industry teaching children water sports. I was always planning to work in healthcare, but I was not sure which discipline to train in. I had not heard of OT but after working with an excellent Occupational Therapist at BIRT and seeing how they enable their clients, I decided to pursue it as a career.

I qualified in 2009. My first role was on a junior OT rotation at Whipps Cross Hospital in London. During my 18 months at Whipps Cross, I experienced different acute settings however, I wanting to specialise in neurorehabilitation and was successful in gaining a Band 6 role at Kings College Hospital.

Whilst at Kings, I worked in different areas of rehabilitation, but became passionate about major trauma and in particular working with individuals who had experienced a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and whose functional changes were less obvious. I also developed an interest in mental health and TBI and the impact this has on TBI survivors long term recovery.

In 2015, I decided to that I wanted to pursue this area. I left Kings and took up a position as a clinical specialist OT at the Lishman Unit, a specialist neuropsychiatric rehabilitation unit and part of South London and Maudsley NHS Trust. That year I also began working as an independent OT in the medico-legal sector and divided my time between the NHS and my private work.

In 2018, I left the NHS to work full-time in the private sector. This decision was partly driven by my interest in academia and an ambition to become involved in research. I have a particular interest in clinical reasoning and how we conceptualise our assessment findings. In the same year I began an MSc in Advanced Occupational Therapy Practice. I completed my MSc in 2022. My thesis was on how OTs conceptualise executive function after assessment. 

The move to full-time private practice was a steep learning curve. The rehabilitation delivered in the community private sector is very different and I needed to learn about the medico-legal system and the OT role within it. The benefits of this area are however, that you can work purely as a therapist and it is where I think I developed my skills as an OT.

Working full time in the private sector, I was able to focus my caseload on my area of speciality. I took on predominately complex cases where the clients had complex social backgrounds in addition to persisting cognitive and psychological changes post their brain injury. Progress in these types of cases often takes time and as an Occupational Therapist, you need to have skills in developing therapeutic rapport and an understanding of how psychological and cognitive changes overlap. Moreover, you need to be able to be truly client-centred and focus on empowering your client. 

Given the complexity of these cases, they also required intensive interdisciplinary working. Consequently, this has helped me develop a broader understanding of different team members roles, how to develop a successful team and the importance of systemic work in TBI rehabilitation. The work also included large teams of support workers, so this required intensive supervision and training with them.

I started working for Somek in September 2023. I have always had an interest in expert work and enjoy writing detailed reports. So far, I have written four reports. It has certainly been lots of learning but my experience working in the medico-legal sector provided me with a good foundation. The clinical aspects of the reports, I have felt confident in, and I enjoy the forensic element of report writing. Being an expert has really highlighted the importance of clear documentation and the need as a clinician to detail your reasoning.

I have been really well supported by my associate trainer; especially to understand the costings. I have had some very complex cases so far.

On a personal note, at the end of 2023, my family and I moved to Scotland to the North West Highlands. I am very passionate about outdoor sport and wanted my children to grow up where they had easy access to the mountains and sea. It was a big decision to move here from the South, but we have not looked back. I have set up my OT practice here and in 2024, began my PhD researching the clinical reasoning of neuro-occupational therapists treating adults with TBI, and persisting cognitive and psychological changes. I now divide my time between my PhD, my private practice and my expert work with Somek.

To find out more about how Alex can assist with your case, visit his profile here.

To find out more about becoming an expert, visit our recruitment pages.