Gill-Thwaites & Elliott Consultants Ltd

Assessing awareness
providing opportunity
realising potential

Gill-Thwaites & Elliott Consultants Ltd works solely in the specialism of Prolonged Disorders of Consciousness (PDOC), including Vegetative State (VS) and Minimally Conscious State (MCS). We assess awareness, provide opportunity, realise potential, and support the management of individuals with PDOC. As inventors/developers of the internationally recognised SMART assessment, we are experts in this field. The Sensory Modality Assessment and Rehabilitation Technique (SMART) is used widely in the UK and in designated units worldwide. We continually strive to promote excellence and adopt a progressive approach in this specialised clinical area, resulting in the optimal outcome for individuals in VS or MCS.

Our consultants explore the individual’s ability through detailed assessments, which are used to inform bespoke intervention and management plans to enable the fulfilment of their potential. To reinforce these intervention and management plans, our education programmes aim to both enhance the specialist skills of team members and develop the knowledge and skills of family care givers, thus providing the best quality of life for individuals with PDOC, and their families.

Our Aims

  • Through accurate assessment, to support the early detection of awareness and realisation of potential of the individual with a PDOC
  • To advise on optimal management and intervention to ensure the individual’s potential is reached
  • To recommend other services and identify specialists, where necessary, to support these programmes
  • To enhance knowledge regarding the optimal conditions required for the individual with a PDOC

Our Services

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Our consultants provide comprehensive intervention and management plans to meet the needs of the individual with a PDOC. We recognise that everyone has different requirements in terms of services and support. Following contact with our consultancy, we will work closely with you to provide a bespoke service to meet your particular needs.

  • Medico-legal assessment/Assessment of awareness
  • Bespoke intervention and management plans
  • Evaluating treatment or care programmes
  • Advisory service
  • Education Programmes

Click here to read more about our services

Testimonials

“As a specialist brain injury lawyer, I understand that the difference between a diagnosis of MCS as against VS can be extremely subtle indeed. The SMART assessment carried out by the team at Gill-Thwaites & Elliott Consultants Ltd has been invaluable in giving a clear diagnosis, which can then dictate the type of care/rehabilitation package most suited to the client’s needs.”

Clinical Negligence & Personal Injury Lawyer

“From any standpoint, it is crucial to understand as best we can what our client’s abilities are and what sensations they can experience. From there, the best quality of life can be planned and I believe that a SMART assessment is an invaluable tool to this end. I found that Helen Gill-Thwaites’s service was, of course, sensitively provided and the quality of the report was excellent.”

Claimant Clinical Negligence Lawyer

“The standardised SMART assessment conducted by Helen Gill-Thwaites has been significant in determining the future therapy needs and style of intervention required for my client in a Minimally Conscious State. Through Helen and SMART, we have been able to conclude our position and adopt a scientific and creative/sensory approach to our future therapy. Helen’s knowledge and expertise in the field of Prolonged Disorders of Consciousness is a very reliable benchmark.”

Case Manager