Ms Samantha Kendra

Ms Kendra is a Senior Specialist Occupational Therapist who qualified in 2020, completing an MSc in Occupational Therapy at Teesside University, following a BSc in Psychology from the University of Liverpool. She has been employed by Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust since qualification and has completed structured clinical rotations across acute and specialist medicine, orthopaedics, and stroke services. In 2022, she specialised in vascular surgery and amputation rehabilitation, developing clinical expertise across both acute inpatient and community settings. Since 2023, Ms Kendra has held her current role as Senior Specialist Occupational Therapist and acting as Occupational Therapy Lead for the Vascular Therapy Team. This role includes clinical leadership, service development, and professional governance, ensuring high standards of evidence-based, multidisciplinary care for patients undergoing vascular surgery and major amputation.

Ms Kendra’s specialist clinical practice focuses on rehabilitation following major lower limb amputation, with particular expertise in pre-amputation assessment, post-operative rehabilitation, discharge planning, and optimising early functional outcomes following lower limb amputation. She leads the Trust’s pre-amputation therapy service and early supported discharge pathway, providing specialist assessment and intervention to optimise patient outcomes and facilitate safe transition from hospital to community settings.

Ms Kendra supports the clinical and operational management of a multidisciplinary therapy team comprising Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and Rehabilitation Assistants (totalling 10 staff). The team delivers services across the acute vascular ward, pre-amputation therapy service, and early supported discharge pathway. Her role includes workforce management, service evaluation and development, clinical supervision and contribution to governance processes, ensuring safe and effective service delivery.

Ms Kendra provides specialist training and clinical supervision to qualified therapists in the assessment and rehabilitation of patients following major lower limb amputation. She has delivered regional education sessions for both acute and community-based teams to improve consistency and quality of therapy provision for this patient group. She has presented service development and clinical outcomes from the pre-amputation therapy service at the British Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Amputee Rehabilitation (BACPAR) Conference and the Vascular Society National Conference.