Directors

MICHAEL FITZGERALD
BA. (Fine Art); BSc. Occupational Therapy, Member Australian Hand Therapy Association & International Society for Sport Traumatology of the Hand.
Michael has been practicing Hand & Upper limb rehabilitation for 16 years. In that time he has managed three busy private practices and also enjoyed developing his skills in paediatric hand therapy during part-time employment at Princess Margaret Hospital. He has demonstrated his commitment to training students and new therapists, co-writing the Edith Cowan University Occupational Therapy curriculum for hand therapy, and guest lecturing at Curtin University. Michael enjoys the challenge of treating sports injuries for both amateur and elite sportspeople, and is a consultant hand therapist for many professional sporting teams including AFL, WAFL and Rugby League clubs. He also has a special interest in the complexity of therapeutic treatment of wrist and elbow injuries.

HELEN FITZGERALD
BSc. Occupational Therapy, Member Australian Hand Therapy Association
Helen has 15 years of Occupational Therapy experience. Initially working in the public sector she worked in Rheumatology; Burns and Plastics; and Spinal Cord Injury rehabilitation. She continued to develop her Hand Therapy skills during locum work in the UK. On her return to Perth she worked as a Senior Therapist in the Hand & Upper Limb Clinic at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital for 8 years before devoting her clinical and management time to Inhand. Helen has been an active member of the AHTA management committee and is currently the WA State Mentor for the Association. She has a special interest in both acute trauma and Rheumatology. She is a passionate about splinting and is an AHTA course presenter in these area of practice. She has also published research regarding conservative management of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Therapy Team

YVETTE ROBERT
BSc. Occupational Therapy, Member Australian Hand Therapy Association
Yvette Robert has worked in the area of hand and upper limb rehabilitation since her graduation in 2010. She has additional experience in spasticity management and burns rehabilitation. Yvette currently works part-time as one of our Senior Occupational Therapists, is also employed at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, and co-convenes the WA arm of the Australian Hand Therapy Association. She has a keen interest in the management of paediatric fractures and neurological conditions.

AMANDA RANFORD
BSc. Occupational Therapy
Amanda has been working in Hand Therapy for 14 years, initially working in the UK as a locum doing a variety of burns, plastics and orthopaedics before entering a dual managerial/clinician role developing a hand therapy department. Back home Amanda was the manager of the Geraldton Regional Hospital OT department, where she developed the hand therapy caseload, before working in both private practice and the public sector in Perth. Amanda is passionate about tendon repair rehabilitation, arthritis and splint making. She has a developing interest in the rehabilitation of complex wrist injuries and paediatric fracture management.

CHARLOTTE CUNNEEN
BSc. Physiotherapy, Associate Australian Hand Therapy

Charlotte has 12 years’ experience working as a physiotherapist. She graduated in the United Kingdom and worked there for five years before moving to Perth. She has extensive experience working in plastic surgery, orthopaedics and upper limb rehabilitation. During her travels she has worked in hand centres overseas, interstate and in Perth, drawing on a wide depth of expertise to compliment her practice. Her key interests include tendon rehabilitation, nerve re-innervation and the management of pain disorders.

KELSEY HASKELL
BSc. Occupational Therapy
Kelsey has been working at Inhand Occupational therapy for 3 years. Her prior clinical experience involved private paediatrics, inpatient aged care rehabilitation and an orthopaedic caseload within the private hospital environment. Kelsey has a keen interest in rehabilitation of hand and upper limb conditions especially the management of osteoarthritis in the thumb. She has a special flair for splint design and construction and enjoys this area of practice.

PAULA O’CONNOR
BSc. Occupational Therapy, Associate Australian Hand Therapy Association

Paula has been working in Hand Therapy in WA for the past 2 years. Prior to this, Paula worked in the occupational rehabilitation sector. To complement her clinical experience, she previously worked in sales of daily assistive devices for individuals with disability and hand injuries. Paula is passionate about developing her skills in treatment of wrist instabilities; having previously undertaken intensive personal study into TFCC injury and rehabilitation and wrist proprioceptive rehabilitation.