Rachel Imms

Rachel is a Practice Placement Lead and teaches across our MSc and BSc in Occupational Therapy. As part of a dynamic teaching team, Rachel leads modules on key areas and supports her colleagues on other modules to provide innovative contemporary content. She also handles the leadership and management of practice placements to ensure varied and quality learning experiences for all students, through working with established partner organisations, and developing new potential.

Rachel’s clinical experience provided her with a diverse knowledge base which she now uses to enhance students' learning experience. As a qualified clinician, she completed a rotation post gaining knowledge and skills in elderly patient care, neurological rehabilitation and day services, at Sharoe Green hospital. She then moved to a community paediatrics role in Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh. The next career move was back to Lancashire teaching hospitals NHS trust and into stroke rehabilitation, then into out-patient falls prevention and management. Some years later, Rachel gained the team and clinical lead position in acute medicine, where she stayed whilst completing a post-graduate MSc in Allied health practice here and undertook a temporary role in private practice.

The MSc research dissertation, which was centred on female continence solutions, product design and independence, culminated in a collaboration with Vernacare and Lancashire Teaching hospitals therapy staff. Vernacare is a global, award-winning infection prevention company, committed to innovation and quality, with headquarters in the UK. This valuable work supported a journey which included presentations at national conferences, awards and new product design and mass distribution to enhance patient care.

With her time in private practice, Rachel developed new skills assessing for the provision of major aids and adaptations, achieved through a government grant to support patients who had been on a long-term waiting list. It also afforded new perspectives of private practice within the profession and a different landscape view.

Throughout the twenty years as a clinician Rachel had always been involved and interested in student learning pathways and the development of all staff. Through her close links with us, she became aware of the planned development of new Occupational Therapy programs and this led to a growing interesting in academia. Her initial role, 2017, as lecturer was within the Health and Social care foundation program, which led onto her applying for the role of lecturer on the formed MSc (pre-reg) in Occupational Therapy. For the first year, this was developed and delivered by Rachel and the appointed course lead. We encouraged she complete a PGCert, which Rachel found enhanced her current role and included membership to become a Fellow to the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).