A day in the life of David Hallowell

He lives in Lisburn with his wife Claire and their two sons and was a Podiatrist for 21 years at Musgrave Park Hospital. He says this was a fantastic experience that gave him an invaluable wealth of clinical knowledge as well as helping him develop his company’s range of foot care products and devices.

After taking my eldest son to school I drive to Newtownabbey were I run several businesses from my office. After a cup of coffee I will go through my emails and catch up on correspondence. As well as running the Northern Ireland Foot and Ankle Clinic I also run an orthotic and ankle brace manufacturing company and a small property business. There is always plenty to do.

My clinical time is spent assessing patients who may have been referred by Physiotherapists, Orthopaedic surgeons or GPs. This primarily involves analysing how the patient’s foot and ankle are moving when walking and then if needed prescribing a support or brace to reduce stress on the lower limb. My morning is usually built around these consultation appointments.

My role in Footcare NI Ltd involves designing and developing custom foot orthoses and also our new range of ankle braces. Our emphasis has consistently been on improving the function of our devices while still guaranteeing comfort to the patient.

Recently I designed an ankle brace which rocks inside the shoe and therefore reduces strain on injured or arthritic ankle joints.

This was first used by a patient who after an explosive injury to his ankle was told that he would never again walk or run properly.

With the help of the brace he eventually was not only able to run but completed the Belfast marathon in under four hours.

The device has been so successful that I have been asked to speak about it at Podiatry conferences at home and abroad.

I am also working closely with Invest NI who are funding research into the rocker in order to establish further evidence for its use.

Much of my remaining time is spent writing up promotional literature and preparing for talks and seminars across Europe.

I really enjoy all aspects of my work but I get a particular buzz out of seeing patients who were not able to walk or who were in pain, moving pain free when using one of our devices. In many cases these patients can be spared the need for surgery which I’m always keen to prevent or delay.