Our History
Spine Plus is a trading name for Osteopathy Plus ltd. Osteopathy Plus was formed by osteopath Robert Shanks in the year 2000. Robert was exposed to manual therapy from an early age by virtue of his mother being a chartered physiotherapist. In his youth Robert was a keen sportsman and martial arts instructor, this gave him additional insight and interest in the biomechanics of the human body. Rather than train as a physiotherapist Robert decided to train as an osteopath because he felt this offered more in depth training in "hands on" manual therapy techniques especially when it came to treating outpatient musculoskeletal conditions. This left Robert and his mother in the somewhat unique position of being able to draw on the approaches of both professions when it came to establishing a practice together shortly after Roberts graduation - Chigwell Osteopathy & Physiotherapy Practice. The refreshing approach of being able to harmoniously combine philosophies and treatment techniques from both professions quickly gained a reputation for effective treatment that delivered superior results.
In 2001 the practice became one of the first in the country to be subcontracted by a local health authority to received NHS funded referrals for patients with low back pain. Despite having studied for 4 years to become an osteopath, Robert continued his education by completing several postgraduate courses, notably in medical acupuncture and electrotherapy. The Chigwell Practice soon expanded to incorporate other osteopaths, massage therapists and a Pilates instructors all with the same forward thinking mentality of learning from each other and functioning as part of a clinical team.
In 2006 Robert teamed up with another osteopath with similar open mindedness and ambition for the pursuit of excellence in musculoskeletal manual therapy. Together they established Osteopathy Plus’ second practice within a busy GP Practice. The osteopath in question was Darren Chandler. Darren had taken similar postgraduate courses to Robert including medical acupuncture. Prior to training as an osteopath Darren had been a national level badminton player and a personal trainer, training many celebrities in London’s west end. Darren brought an added dimension to Osteopathy Plus, through his expertise in exercise advice.
Robert and Darren soon gained great respect amongst the GP's, consultants and other medical professionals they came into contact with via the GP surgery. The network of medical contacts that this created assisted Robert and Darren taking a lead role in establishing the National Back Pain Helpline in early 2008. The helpline functions as a source of professional advice and information for people with back pain, neck pain and related disorders.
At the beginning of 2009 Robert and Darren were invited by Vista diagnostics to provide clinical assessments for clients self referring for MRI scans and at the same time establish a clinic in the heart of London. The name of this clinic is the Spine Plus clinic in Waterloo.
