The team at Hands On Health Clinic sets out to give supportive, personalised care, and that work has now earned the clinic the title of Chiropractic Business of the Year at the local business awards. Founded by Dr Gemma Phipps in 2013, the clinic has spent more than a decade treating patients from the local community and across the Midlands. Its team of qualified chiropractors, acupuncturists and kinesiologists offers a range of treatments to help patients manage their conditions and work towards their own health goals.
The award came through the support of the people the clinic exists to help. Patients took the time to vote and recognise the care they had received, and that means an enormous amount to Gemma and her team. For a business that supports people through pain, discomfort and ongoing health problems, it is a reminder of the difference compassionate, professional care can make.
A personal reason to become a chiropractor
The story behind the clinic began long before it opened in 2013. Gemma's mother lives with chronic spondylitis, a condition that can cause ongoing spinal pain and stiffness. Seeing its effect on her mother's daily life showed Gemma how hard living with a long-term spinal condition can be, and she also saw the positive difference chiropractic treatment made to her mother's quality of life. That experience led her into chiropractic care, with the aim of helping other people facing similar difficulties.
Over 18 years in practice, Gemma has helped thousands of patients from the local area and across the Midlands, building considerable experience with musculoskeletal problems. She set up Hands On Health Clinic in 2013 to make chiropractic services more accessible to local families: a clinic where patients could receive professional care, understand their conditions and feel supported through their treatment. Since then the business has expanded its team and added treatments to meet the needs of its patients.
The personal motivation that first drew Gemma to the work still shapes how the clinic operates. Having seen first hand how much a spinal condition can affect someone's quality of life, she understands the importance of helping patients manage their symptoms and work towards greater comfort and mobility. For her, chiropractic care has always been a chance to make a difference in people's everyday lives, as much as a profession.
Supporting patients with long-term spinal conditions
One of the clinic's main areas of focus is helping patients manage chronic spinal conditions, including osteoarthritis and spondylitis. For people living with ongoing back or neck problems, everyday activities can become difficult or uncomfortable, and even simple tasks feel harder when pain and restricted movement are part of daily life. The team understands how frustrating that can be. Rather than treating every person the same way, the practitioners take time to understand each patient's concerns, discuss their goals and support them through an appropriate course of treatment.
Bringing chiropractors, acupuncturists and kinesiologists together under one roof gives patients access to practitioners from different areas of musculoskeletal and complementary healthcare, so treatment options can be matched to the individual. Some patients want help with persistent discomfort, while others want to improve their movement, general wellbeing or physical performance. The therapists describe themselves as results-driven: they monitor progress and aim for each visit to contribute positively to the patient's care.
Chronic conditions vary considerably between individuals, and outcomes depend on personal circumstances. What the clinic can promise is professional guidance, appropriate care and ongoing support throughout, and that attention to the person behind the condition has helped it build strong relationships with patients over the years.
More than a decade of care in the community
Passing ten years in business is something everyone at the clinic is proud of. Since opening in 2013, it has supported many local people through their individual health concerns. For a healthcare business, those years also stand for the relationships built with patients, the experience gained by practitioners and the continued confidence people place in its services. The number of practitioners has grown along the way, letting the clinic offer a wider range of treatments and expertise to local residents, an important milestone for Gemma given her original aim of providing accessible chiropractic care to families in the surrounding area.
Through that growth, the team has kept patients first. Some people arrive managing long-term conditions, others with a more recent problem, and taking time to understand those individual needs is an essential part of giving appropriate care. The clinic also works to keep up relationships with its patients and to make people comfortable discussing their health. For Gemma and her colleagues, the greatest reward is not the number of years the business has operated but knowing that people continue to trust them with their care.
Help from the community after the floods
Even a well-established business can be caught out, and the clinic recently faced a difficult situation when flash flooding hit the local area. The premises were damaged, leaving the team to dry out the building and carry out repairs. For a healthcare clinic, where the space has to suit both practitioners and patients, restoring it matters all the more, and the refurbishment and repair work has become an ongoing priority.
One of the most memorable parts of the experience was the kindness of the surrounding community. Neighbours were quick to offer practical help drying out the clinic, and some patients who work in trades gave invaluable support, using their knowledge and experience to help the business through a difficult period. For a team whose everyday work involves helping others, being on the receiving end of so much kindness was touching, and it showed how strong the relationships they have built locally are. The repairs are not yet finished, but the help from neighbours and patients has made a significant difference, and the clinic is grateful for and proud of that sense of community.
Helping the community understand their health
The clinic believes that looking after people's wellbeing should not stop at the treatment room. Helping people understand their conditions, explore their options and make informed decisions about their health is part of the work too. One way the team does this is through free screening appointments, where people can discuss their concerns and learn about treatments that may be available to them. For someone who has been in discomfort but is not sure where to begin, that first conversation can be a useful step, and the sessions are meant to give information and guidance on what support might suit their circumstances.
The clinic also organises health talks at the local community centre throughout the year, covering everyday topics including headaches and migraines, arthritis and workplace posture. Posture is especially relevant for people who spend long periods sitting or doing repetitive tasks, while arthritis and recurring headaches affect people in many different ways. By sharing knowledge in a community setting, the team hopes to make health information more accessible, help residents understand common concerns and encourage them to take an interest in their own wellbeing.
Local fundraising and future healthcare professionals
The clinic also supports people taking part in charitable and community initiatives. When patients take on marathons or other sponsored challenges, it shares their stories and provides sponsorship, celebrating the effort of people giving their time and energy to raise money for causes that matter to them. The team takes an interest in what is important to patients outside the clinic, not only in their treatment.
The business offers work experience placements to people interested in careers in musculoskeletal medicine, giving them an understanding of a professional healthcare setting and an insight into what the profession involves. That support for future talent connects to Gemma's own route into chiropractic care: having been inspired by seeing what treatment did for her mother, she knows how much personal experience can shape someone's career. By welcoming people who want to learn about the profession, the clinic hopes to contribute to the future of musculoskeletal healthcare.
Finding reward in the progress patients make
What makes the work worthwhile for the team comes back to the people they help every day. Some patients arrive having struggled with a condition for a long time, others with discomfort that has started to affect their usual activities. Either way, being able to move more comfortably or feel less pain can make a real difference to someone's everyday life, and watching patients notice improvements is one of the main reasons the practitioners stay so passionate about their work.
No single patient story defines the business. It is the many individual moments when someone begins to feel better, or realises they can move more freely than on their first visit, that give Gemma and her colleagues their satisfaction. Everyone responds differently to care, and some conditions need ongoing support, so the clinic focuses on improvements that matter to each person: becoming more comfortable in daily activities, moving better, or managing a long-term condition more effectively. Knowing a patient feels they have benefited is a large part of what makes the job fulfilling, and it keeps the clinic motivated to provide the best service it can.
An emotional award win
Being named Chiropractic Business of the Year has been a proud moment for everyone at the clinic. After more than a decade serving the community, the team was delighted to discover that patients had taken the time to vote for the business, and the news was met with real excitement. As the clinic explains, “We were ecstatic to have won! It means so much to us that our patients not only value the work we do but also took the time to vote for us!”
In healthcare, trust underpins the relationship between practitioners and the people they treat. Patients rely on professionals to listen to their concerns, explain their options and give care that takes their individual needs into account, so knowing that people feel positively enough about their experiences to support the clinic in a public vote means a great deal. The award also recognises the whole team, including the practitioners and staff behind the clinic's daily running, since every appointment, conversation and interaction is part of what patients experience. It is an encouraging sign that the care put into those experiences is appreciated.
The win is also a chance to look back on how far the business has come since Gemma set it up in 2013, from its original aim of providing local chiropractic care to the larger team and range of treatments it offers today. Because the recognition came from the community the clinic was created to serve, Gemma and the team see it as an achievement shared with the people who have supported the business over the years.
Refurbishment and more community outreach
The team is already looking to the next stage. The immediate priority is to continue the refurbishment following the flood damage, restoring the premises and continuing to develop the environment where patients receive their care. Having had the support of neighbours and patients during the recovery, the team is keen to move forward.
Beyond the building itself, the clinic wants to expand its community outreach. It already provides free screenings, health talks and support for local fundraising, and the team is enthusiastic about building on that. Being part of the community has always mattered to the business, and it wants to keep its knowledge and services accessible to local people, whether through conversations about common musculoskeletal conditions, educational events or chances to learn about healthcare careers. Throughout, its main focus stays on providing professional, supportive care. For Gemma, the original motivation has never changed: helping people understand their conditions, manage discomfort and work towards better wellbeing. The clinic goes forward with more than ten years of experience and a dedicated team of practitioners.
A thank you to patients, staff and supporters
Gemma and the team want to thank the people who made the award possible. First come the patients who have supported the clinic over the years, from those who attend appointments to those who took the time to vote; their continued trust and encouragement means an enormous amount. The team is also grateful to the staff, both the practitioners giving treatment and the people supporting the day-to-day running of the business, whose work gives patients a welcoming and professional experience.
There is special appreciation, too, for the neighbours and patients who stepped forward after the flooding. For Gemma, whose route into chiropractic care began with wanting to help people like her mother, the award marks years of work, the dedication of her team and the relationships built with patients since the clinic opened in 2013. The message the team wants to share with patients is a simple one:
“We would like to thank all of our lovely patients for their continued support, and for their votes. We really do appreciate each and every one of you.”