Three Years at Shorecare Smales Farm: Nearly 2,500 New Patients and Counting

Three years ago, Hands On Rehabilitation opened its doors at Shorecare Smales Farm, bringing specialist hand therapy directly into an acute care setting on Auckland's North Shore. What started as a new model of care has become one of our most impactful clinics, and this month we're marking that milestone with a lot of pride.

A Different Kind of Clinic

Shorecare Smales Farm isn't a typical hand therapy setting. It sits within a busy urgent care environment, which means the patients who come through the door are often in acute pain, freshly injured, and looking for answers fast. Getting the right specialist input at that moment, rather than weeks later after a GP referral, makes a real difference to outcomes.

Since opening in February 2023, our team at Shorecare Smales Farm has seen nearly 2,500 acute patients. That's 2,500 people who received specialist hand therapy assessment and management at the point of care, many of whom would otherwise have waited significantly longer for treatment. Those patients come to us with everything from wrist fractures, finger dislocations, and tendon injuries through to hand lacerations, crush injuries, and complex wounds requiring careful management.

We serve patients from right across the North Shore, including Takapuna, Milford, Devonport, Northcote, Birkenhead, and beyond. For many of them, having a hand therapy specialist available on the spot at Smales Farm means they leave with a diagnosis, a splint, and a clear plan on the same day they're injured.

More Than a Clinic

Our role at Shorecare goes beyond seeing patients. From the beginning, we've worked alongside the wider Shorecare team, including the staff in A&E, the dressing clinics, and the fracture clinics, to support the management of hand and upper limb injuries across the facility.

That collaboration has involved education as much as treatment. Our therapists have worked closely with the Shorecare team to build knowledge and confidence around hand injury management, from wound care and splinting through to recognising which injuries need urgent specialist input. When the whole team understands hand injuries better, patients benefit.

The Team Behind It

The success of the Shorecare Smales Farm clinic comes down to the three therapists who have built it. David Beattie, Mark Lanigan, and Courtney Wilkinson have not only delivered excellent clinical care but have become a genuine part of the Shorecare community. Working in an acute environment requires a particular kind of therapist: someone who is clinically sharp, adaptable, and able to build trust quickly with both patients and colleagues from other disciplines. David, Mark, and Courtney bring all of that.

Their ability to integrate with the Shorecare team, contribute to education, and maintain consistently high standards of care in a fast-paced setting has made this clinic what it is.

Looking Ahead

We're proud of what has been built at Shorecare Smales Farm and grateful for the partnership with the Shorecare team that has made it possible. The model works because both organisations are committed to the same thing: getting patients the right care, quickly.

If you've had a hand, wrist, or finger injury and you're on the North Shore, our team at Smales Farm can see you. No referral needed.

Here's to the next three years.

Hands On Rehabilitation | Shorecare Smales Farm