Pat has worked in a variety of health care settings, including general hospital, with Dr Bobath, a mental health hospital, the community and as a Back Care Adviser for the NHS, and is now a free-lance manual handling practitioner She has studied and gained a post-graduate Diploma in Back Care and a post-graduate certificate in Education, and is also a Registered Member of National Back Exchange. Research for her Masters was on risk assessment in District Nurses. She devises courses for all levels of staff and management, and policies and risk assessments in hospital and community and has contributed to several authoritative texts and has been involved in co-authoring several seminal publications in the field. She also works as an expert witness in lifting injuries, including for the HSE.