Alison King - Hospital Manager

Alison had always wanted to be a nurse from being a very small girl. Nursing runs in the family. Alison qualified in 1982 and has worked in the NHS for a number of years in various settings, and then moved in to the private sector in 1988. Starting as a staff nurse and moving her way up to being Home Manager/Regional Manager, working for different companies, gaining experience in varied fields from management to crisis management.

Alison is proud and excited to be leading the team at Cygnet St Williams.

Chelsea Phelan - Clinical Manager

Chelsea qualified as Registered Learning Disability Nurse at Edge Hill University and started her journey within Cygnet St Williams in 2019. Chelsea commenced her post as a Staff Nurse quickly progressing to Senior Staff Nurse and then to Clinical Manager. Prior to being employed at Cygnet St Williams Chelsea worked with community teams and within forensic mental health services.

Chelsea has a passion for collaborative care and ensuring that our service users and carers have a positive journey. Furthermore, she strives to empower service users and colleagues and enjoys motivating the team. Chelsea enjoys the challenges and successes of providing Neuropsychiatric Rehabilitation treatment for individuals who have complex needs and challenging neurological presentations.

Dr Khalil Memon - Consultant Adult Psychiatrist and Neuropsychiatrist

Dr Khalil Memon has been working as a Consultant Psychiatrist with Cygnet since January 2022. Prior to joining Cygnet, Dr Memon was working as a consultant in Neuropsychiatry at Walkergate Park, Newcastle. He completed his higher specialist training in General Adult Psychiatry with subspecialisation in Neuropsychiatry with the Health Education England in the North East and North Cumbria.

Dr Memon passed his MRCPsych examination in 2017 and has a rich experience in psychiatry. He has a keen interest in research, adult and neuropsychiatry. Dr Memon also has expertise in alcohol related brain injury, Korsakoff syndrome and in neurodegenerative disorders including Huntington disease. He is a dedicated, honest and hardworking clinician and works to get the best outcomes for his patients.

Dr Bobbie Turnbull - Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Bobbie qualified as a Clinical Psychologist in 2012 at Teesside University. She had a career in mental health services prior to this, working in the NHS as a mental health nurse for 10 years, within acute mental health and learning disability services in Teesside and North Yorkshire before completing her degree and masters in psychology. Within her psychology career she has worked in Adult, older adult, Children’s mental health, forensic and learning disability services.

She has special interests in trauma and complex mental health difficulties and offers an integrative approach which draws on cognitive Behavioural therapy (CBT), Cognitive Analytic therapy (CAT) and mindfulness in addition to other models. She is also trained in Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR). Her other areas of interest include staff support which has been the focus of both her doctoral research and further research studies. Within Cygnet Bobbie is also the lead for the Research and Development group and has a keen interest in promoting research activities throughout the company.

Nicola Malley - Speech and Language Therapist

After spending some time in Australia, Nicola qualified as a Speech and Language Therapist in 2017, finding a passion for working with people with acquired brain injury early in her training. Although Nicola became an SLT as a career change, having studied and worked with foreign languages for several years previously, she has always had a keen interest in communication.

Nicola enjoys the diversity and challenge of speech therapy, since every case is different, and the satisfaction of supporting patients to make even the smallest change can be huge! At St William’s Nicola most enjoys working with the therapies and nursing team to support the patients to maximise their independence and engage in activities that are meaningful to them.

Jim Murphy - Physiotherapist BSc

James qualified as a physiotherapist in 2006 from Teesside University. He developed his physiotherapy experience within the NHS and the private sectors, developing specialist skills in varied roles including; community physiotherapy, falls service, neurological outpatients and neuromusculoskeletal physiotherapy alongside many other services.

James’ role at Cygnet involves working as part of Cygnets neuropsychiatric rehabilitation services providing physiotherapy across both Cygnet Newham House and St Williams Hospitals. James prides himself in being part specialist team delivering high quality rehabilitation.

Before James became a physiotherapist, he trained in the armed forces. During his service, he developed an interest in fitness and recovery and since then has always advocated health and mental wellbeing through exercise, body awareness and recovery.

Georgia Nelson - Occupational Therapist

Georgia qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 2019, and began her career working in community/acute rehabilitation within the NHS. She is extremely enthusiastic about supporting individuals through their rehabilitation journey, approachable and has learned to deal sensitively with challenging and potentially confrontational situations, developing an understanding of the fears and concerns which are so often part and parcel of a service user’s journey.

Georgia has a passion for providing high standards of care and promoting service user’s independence in order to achieve the best possible outcomes on their rehabilitation journey. She strives to empower service users, actively promoting their positive welfare and engagement.

Anne Cook - Mental Health Act Administrator

Anne has worked in a secretarial or administrative role in the care industry for nearly 20 years. Anne is now the Mental Health Administrator for Cygnet St William’s in Darlington. She enjoys varying roles and has met a lot of interesting people, both staff and service user, over the years. Anne loves being part of a team that is making a difference to people’s lives.

In her spare time Anne enjoys spending time with her family, which now includes five grandchildren. She also enjoys making and decorating cakes and (occasionally) going to the gym.