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Spasticity Services

Welcome to Spasticity Services at Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ Teaching Hospitals.

This is a regional service provided by the plastic surgery department for the surgical treatment of spasticity of the arm and hand.

We see adults and children who have had brain injuries and spinal cord injuries that have affected the function of their arms and hands. These injuries can result from stroke, birthing difficulty, infection, tumour, or trauma. The limbs can be weak or can be tense due to increased muscle tone and are difficult to control or relax. Sometimes the arm has no movement at all and this can make washing and dressing difficult. The muscles and tendons can become shortened and weak and the joints stiff and sometimes surgery can correct this and improve arm function.

The team consists of:

  • A plastic surgeon, Catherine Hernon
  • Occupational therapists, Joanna Burdon and Caroline Pellatt
  • Physiotherapists, Helen Neal and Ben Sirr

Meet the team

Catherine Hernon has been a consultant plastic, hand and reconstructive surgeon at Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ Teaching Hospitals Trust since 2010.

She completed her specialist training in plastic and reconstructive surgery in the Yorkshire region and then gained further experience in hand surgery by undertaking hand fellowship posts in Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ and the St Andrews centre for plastic surgery in Chelmsford.

She also spent a year as a microsurgical fellow in Taiwan gaining further experience in microsurgical and nerve reconstruction at the E-Da hospital in Kaohsiung and at the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taipei.

Prior to starting her consultant post she spent a sabbatical in Norrland’s University Hospital in Umea, Sweden furthering her experience in the surgical treatment of upper limb spasticity.

Her specialist interests are adult hand surgery, peripheral nerve and brachial plexus injury, upper limb spasticity, tetraplegia and microsurgery.

Joanna Burdon qualified as an Occupational Therapist from Brunel University in 1998 and has been working in a variety of clinical settings before specialising in hands and plastics. She has been working in hand therapy since 2001 at the Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ and has over 20 years experience of assessing and rehabilitating patients with upper limb spasticity. Her current work involves treating patients with complex needs following trauma or elective surgery including splinting, casting, hand therapy and scar assessment and treatment. Joanna’s specialist interests are upper limb spasticity, paediatric upper limb conditions and hand transplant.

Helen has worked within the Hands and Plastics unit since 2019 after working in a variety of clinical settings both within the NHS and privately. She has worked with patients with upper limb spasticity from early in her career. Her current work involves the treatment of patients with upper limb spasticity and tetraplegia, following trauma or elective surgery and for patients with peripheral or major nerve injuries. This may involve stretching and strengthening of the arm.

What we do

We take referrals from rehabilitation doctors, paediatricians, neurologists, orthopaedic surgeons and GPs. Often the patient will have had other treatments for their arms such as botulinum toxin injections and most will already have had physiotherapy and occupational therapy.

More information available on our ‘What we do’ page.

Contact us

Our service is based in Clarendon Wing, LGI.

General enquiries

Practice co-ordinator Susan Silla
Tel: 0113 3922898
Opening hours: Monday to Thursday 9:00am to 5:00pm.

Answerphone available outside these hours

Unit Fax: 0113 3926094

Outpatient booking enquiries

Tel: 0113 3928237 or 0113 3923450
Opening hours: Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4:00pm.

Answerphone available outside these hours

All enquiries and correspondence can be addressed to:

Catherine Hernon Consultant Plastic Surgeon
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Department
Clarendon Wing, Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ General Infirmary
Great George Street, Ä¢¹½tvÊÓƵ LS1 2EX

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