Lucy Wells

Biography

I left the NHS at the end of 2020, and worked independently as a Consultant Occupational Therapist for adults with Neurodevelopmental Conditions and / or mental health difficulties. I joined Cardiff university as a lecturer in Occupational Therapy in January 2022.

I moved to Cardiff with my family in 2017 and worked as a Band 7 Highly Specialist Occupational Therapist for the Cardiff & Vale Integrated Autism Service until December 2020. Prior to that, I worked for Sheffield Health & Social Care NHS Trust for 13 years in adult mental health, older adult mental health, community rehabilitation, and the Sheffield Adult Autism & Neurodevelopmental Service. I specialise in mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions (ASD, ADHD, DCD, etc.) in people aged 16 years upwards

Honours and awards

NIHR Fellowship 2010

Professional memberships

HCPC registration number OT42820

Royal College of Occupational Therapists

UK National Network for Adult Autism Healthcare Professionals (NNAAHP)

Association of Sensory Integration Practice

Speaking engagements

2019 Workshop lead: ‘Skills for Life & Getting Things Done.’ Co-presented with Dr Simon Braybrook (a GP with Autism) at the first National Autism Wales Conference “Promoting Autistic Wellbeing” in Swansea. Full presentation available at: https://autismwales.org/en/about-us/national-autism-wales-conference-2019/

2016 Training presented on ‘Using Sensory Approaches as an alternative to seclusion.’ I was employed by Sheffield’s Psychiatric Intensive Treatment Unit to provide 2-day training for staff to help the team use their new PICU environment more effectively, understand the sensory needs of their service-users (and themselves), and consequently reduce the amount of seclusion used to manage difficult behaviour on the unit.

2013 – 2017 Training presented on: ‘Working with people with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder’ Annual training provided for Sheffield Health & Social Care Foundation NHS Trust, whenever possible I co-presented with a service-user.

2015 Poster presentation: ‘Moving Forward Together – Improving emotional well-being for young adults. Developing a city-wide Transitions Group for young adults with mental health difficulties in Sheffield.’ at the Health Services Research Network Symposium.

Wells, L. & Walker, S. ‘Tackling difficult transitions’, Occupational Therapy News, May 2014, pp.32-33.

2014 Conference chair, budget holder, and joint organiser of: ‘Transitions Moving Forward Together. Improving emotional well-being for young adults in Sheffield’.  Event funded by Sheffield Health & Social Care Foundation NHS Trust. More than 150 people attended, including health professionals, stakeholders, service-users, and others involved in supporting young adults in Sheffield with mental health problems.

2013 Presentation to SUN:RISE (Service User Network: Relevant Inclusive Supportive Exciting) A presentation to Sheffield service-users about my MSc Dissertation research: ‘How do adults with a diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, under the care of Sheffield Community Mental Health teams, perceive their condition to impact on their education and employment?’

2012 &13 Training presented on: ‘How to work with adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)’ to South Yorkshire Probation service .

2011 Poster presentation at the UK Adult ADHD Network’s International Congress on “ADHD – A Lifespan Condition” held at Savoy Place in London. Poster presentation highlighting the role of OT for adults with ADHD and the journey of service development in Sheffield, it also outlined my research within local adult community mental health teams.

2011 Presentation to SUN:RISE (Service User Network: Relevant Inclusive Supportive Exciting). Presentation to consult with service users’ in response to the Autism (Quality Standards) Bill (2010-2012) and the increase in referrals received by community mental health OTs locally for this group of service users.

Teaching

Prior to becoming an OT I worked for several years as a Teacher of English as a Foreign Language in Germany, and at Wolverhampton and Sheffield Universities. I taught a wide range of nationalities and abilities and also provided academic writing support to master and PhD level students. During my OT career I have facilitated lots of training for service-users, colleagues, other professionals, and carers, in a range of topics including; living with ADHD, Autism, using sensory integration informed approaches in adult mental health, using sensory approaches to reduce the need for seclusion and restraint on psychiatric inpatient intensive care units, risk management, and other mental health topics. I particularly enjoy collaborating with experts by experience to co-present training and presentations, for example I facilitated a workshop on ‘Skills for Life and Getting Things Done’ with Dr Simon Braybrook (an autistic GP) at the Promoting Autistic Wellbeing – National Autism Wales Conference 2019 (see: https://autismwales.org/en/about-us/national-autism-wales-conference-2019/).

I have a Masters in Clinical Research from the School of Health & Related Research (ScHARR) completed with a distinction at the University of Sheffield and fully funded by an NIHR fellowship. My research dissertation was a grounded theory based study investigating how adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder felt it had impacted on their education and employment. In 2014 I completed a service evaluation for my trust, evaluating the impact of a ‘Transitions Group’ for young people aged 16 to 25 with moderate to severe mental health issues.  Prior to becoming an Occupational Therapist I completed a BA Hons in Philosophy at the University of Birmingham.

I am interested in promoting the value of Occupational Therapy interventions for neurodiverse individuals struggling with daily functioning. I am particularly interested in the impact of neurodevelopmental conditions on individuals aged between 16 and 25. Research around neurodevelopmental conditions, neurodiversity and learning, trauma, sensory processing, mental health, occupational science, and Occupational Therapy are of interest to me.

Supervision