PROFILE
Kate Bryce CSP HCPC BSc (Hons) PgDip ACPIVR committee member
Kate was awarded her Physiotherapy degree from Nottingham University in 1999. After beginning her career in the North East she moved to London where she quickly specialised in acute older persons’ medicine. During the following decade she had the opportunity to assess and treat many different conditions, gaining experience in general medical, orthopaedic, respiratory, falls and long term conditions. She gained experience across hospital wards, outpatient clinics and day hospitals, where her interest and expertise in the comprehensive assessment, diagnosis and management of older persons’ conditions soon became a speciality. Kate provided clinical and operational leadership to a specialist, multi-disciplinary team providing expertise in the management of older persons with acute, chronic and multi-factorial issues, specialising in falls and discharge planning. She completed a Postgraduate Diploma in First Contact Care of older people in 2006, achieving a distinction, and developed extended scope assessment and management skills to support the autonomous differential diagnosis of the signs and symptoms related to falls and balance issues. Further opportunities took Kate to a strategic position, working within both NHS and freelance roles to develop falls prevention pathways and training protocols that would meet the growing challenges of inpatient and community falls prevention. She provided leadership on quality improvement projects, supporting change management agendas from ward to board level.
On returning to the North East in 2011, Kate joined the Regional Falls and Syncope Service at the Royal Victoria Infirmary and returned to a clinical role. Here her specialist knowledge of balance assessment and rehabilitation was further enhanced with training in vestibular assessment and treatment interventions from world leaders in the field at courses in London and Newcastle. She became a clinical specialist in the assessment and rehabilitation of balance and dizziness, and rapidly went on to lead training workshops on BPPV, present at an international conference at RCP Edinburgh and both organise and present at the Dizziness for Physicians course ran by the Falls and Syncope Service in Newcastle. She is a committee member for the national special interest group for dizziness (ACPIVR) and takes an active role to enable regional networking and training in the area. She has maintained a keen interest in all things vestibular attending numerous webinars though the COIVD years in Vestibular Health, Vestibular Migraine and Concussion and enjoying face to face training from the LaterLife Team in advancing exercise for older persons.
Kate is passionate about access and provision of specialist assessment and rehabilitation for persons with balance and dizziness issues. With over twenty years of clinical and strategic experience Kate continues with her passion to provide individualised assessment and rehabilitation. She has insight into local resources, and a desire help people get the most out of their day and live a full and rewarding life.