MEET SPINAL INJURY NURSING EXPERT WITNESS, CHRIS FREESTONE
Please meet Chris Freestone, the latest member to join our team of nursing expert witnesses. Chris has worked in the field of neurological care, primarily spinal cord injuries, as a Nurse, Case Manager and Lecturer since 1993.
As the Clinical Director and co-founder of Total Community Care, which provides bespoke care packages to individuals with complex neurological care needs, Chris is an expert in care. He consistently advocates choice, independence, and a multi-disciplinary approach to meeting the challenges faced by individuals living with a spinal cord injury.
Chris works for Jane James & Associates as an independent Expert Witness, taking instructions from both Claimant and Defendant firms, for care, aids and equipment reports.
You can learn more about Chris in the short article below and find his expert profile on our website.
EARLY LIFE
Chris was born and raised in Cardiff and moved to London in 1988 to do his nursing training at the Chelsea & Westminster hospital before embarking on a six-month spinal injury course at the Royal National Orthopaedic Centre, Stanmore, in 1993.
After graduating from the course, Chris worked on the spinal units and particularly enjoyed working with spinal injuries. Every case was unique and interesting and involved all body systems. He also enjoyed assessing and treating the whole body and working closely with the families involved. Chris spent a couple of years in the role and, during that time, met his future wife.
A CAREER IN NURSING & CASE MANAGEMENT
At the end of 1994, an opportunity arose to work as a charge nurse on a neuro-rehabilitation unit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Chris decided to take the role as it would be a great experience and an opportunity to work in an entirely different cultural environment.
Chris spent a year in this role before being approached by an old colleague towards the end of 1995 to return to the United Kingdom as a Case Manager at the Spinal Injuries Unit at the Royal National Orthopaedic Centre, Stanmore, where he trained.
As Stanmore was the first spinal unit in the country to adopt case management, the opportunity was too good to pass up. Chris progressed to Lead Case Manager in 1998. He was responsible for leading the team that coordinated the rehabilitation, discharge planning and reintegration back into the community for those with spinal cord injuries.
He enjoyed this role and loved the seamless start-to-finish process. It was one of the most satisfying roles of his career, and in Chris’s words, “very humbling.”
Things were to move on, and Chris was offered and accepted the position of Unit Department Manager. Sadly, this was a role he did not enjoy, so he decided to leave Stanmore in 2000 when the position of Lecturer in Spinal Cord Injury at South Bank University presented itself.
Ready for a new challenge, Chris accepted the role and delivered the post-registration ENB 371 to nurses specialising in spinal cord injury care. This was an extremely gratifying job with a degree of kudos, which Chris enjoyed. Chris loved the role, but after 18 months, he was approached by a care agency to be a Case Manager in private practice, and it was time to move on.
SETTING OUT ON HIS OWN
Chris loved this role change as it brought all aspects of his career experience together: training, supervising staff, meeting clients, and managing autonomous caseloads. He became Operations Director in 2004 and left in 2006 to set up his own care agency, which he ran successfully until 2020.
He enjoyed running and managing the clinical side of his business, which consisted of 76 clients, 460 staff, 8 nurses, and 10 Care Managers. In 2020, Chris sold his business and decided to retire early - at least that was the plan…
THE BRIDGE TO EXPERT WITNESS WORK
After having a 12-month extended ‘holiday’, and for his sanity, Chris felt retirement wasn’t for him, so he set up Westbury Case Management Ltd., which aims to deliver specialist insights into the care, support and advice required to optimise rehabilitation for individuals living with a spinal cord injury. During this time, Chris took on expert witness work and was also a director with complex care specialists, Ourway Care Ltd.
BECOMING A JJ&A EXPERT WITNESS
Chris was already familiar with Jane James and Associates, and when a conversation led to a more formal offer for Chris to join the team as a Nursing Expert Witness, he took it. Chris's extensive clinical, academic and care experience means he is well-equipped to be an expert witness and provide high-quality care reports.
Chris's experience of working with JJ&A so far has been a wholly positive one. As Chris says,
"I have been made to feel welcome, and the whole team at Jane James and Associates is friendly, supportive, extremely well organised, efficient, and so lovely. "
WHEN HE’S NOT WORKING AS AN EXPERT WITNESS
Professionally, Chris still has his finger on the pulse. He heads up Westbury Case Management Ltd., managing a small caseload of clients (one to two), which allows him to take on more specialist spinal injury cases and referrals from former colleagues.
Chris has two grown-up children whom he loves to spend time with. When he’s not working, he likes to go horse racing, watch rugby (following Wales at home and abroad), keep fit, and walk his Maltese Terrier Poodle cross, Monty.
Chris has worked in a senior position in both the independent and statutory sectors.
He is a member of the Royal College of Nursing, BABICM and the Multi-disciplinary Association of Spinal Cord Injury Professionals (MASCIP).
Chris was on the committee of MASCIP from 2017- 2020 as Governance Lead.
Chris works for Jane James & Associates as an independent Expert Witness, taking instructions from both Claimant and Defendant firms, for care, aids and equipment reports.
