Who We Are
The Active Women’s Clinic was developed by Dr Kate Hutchings, a Sports and Exercise Medicine Consultant and Ms Ros Cooke, a Specialist Physiotherapist with the aim of supporting women to exercise, train and perform to their full potential.
Our Clinicians have over 25 years of combined experience in working with Olympic female sportswomen, the FA, RFU and professional Ballet. We want to bring this gold-standard combined level of care to all active women, no matter their level of exercise or sport.
Lead Practitioners
Kate Hutchings – Sports and Exercise Medicine Consultant
Kate Hutchings is a Sports and Exercise Medicine Consultant who has a wealth of experience in working with both elite athletes and recreational sports women across a wide variety of sports and dance. Her previous positions include working for both the English National Ballet and Royal Ballet as medical advisor and she is currently the clinical lead for the female athlete service at the UK Sports institute.
Ros Cooke – Specialist Physiotherapist
Ros is a knowledgeable, forward-thinking, and approachable physiotherapist with a passion for helping female athletes optimize their health and performance. Ros completed a BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy from the University of Birmingham (2003), and followed this with a MSc in Sports Injury & Rehabilitation from the University of Salford(2014).
Multidisciplinary Associates
Dr Sarah Gilchrist – Physiologist
Dr Sarah Gilchrist FBASES, spent over 20 years working in the high performance sport industry, latterly as a Technical Lead for the English Institute of Sport and Senior Physiologist with British Rowing. Her doctorate specialised in sleep and athletic performance and she now provides consultancy on a range of performance areas, particularly relating to sleep health, through her own consultancy, Gilchrist Performance.
Paula Wood has been a registered dietitian for over 30 years. She has special interests in weight loss and gastrointestinal issues. Paula understands the importance of realistic and practical nutrition advice to help people reach their goals – whether this is with therapeutic diets for certain illnesses and conditions or optimising nutrition to improve health and wellbeing.
Nick is an expert in the field of biomechanics, with a particular interest in gait analysis and the treatment of neuromuscular conditions affecting the lower limbs.
Currently, Nick serves as the head of service and Orthotic Clinical Lead at the prestigious Royal Berkshire Foundation Trust Hospital.
Dr Shilpa McQuillan founded the Berkshire Menopause Clinic, and is a British Menopause Accredited Menopause Specialist General Practitioner, and Community Gynaecologist. This puts Dr McQuillan in a unique and privileged position to deliver an all-rounded approach to women’s healthcare in both private and NHS setting.
Alex is a Dietitian that specialises in endurance sport performance, eating disorders and REDs. She currently works in private practice and the NHS and has almost 20 years experience in this area.
