The journey towards Nova Care
Nova Care's roots date back to 2016 with the creation of Social Worker Gary, a sole trading independent practice led by our founder, Gary Spencer-Humphrey - a registered social worker, Approved Mental Health Professional and Best Interests Assessor. Gary began his career over 20 years ago, starting as a healthcare assistant and rising through the ranks to become Head of Social Services in a unitary authority in England. You can read more about our founder here.
In 2019, Social Worker Gary became Expert Social Worker Ltd, retaining its trusted trading 'Social Worker Gary'. The service quickly became recognised as a leader in private assessments and expert witness reports across England and Wales, with a respectable 4.9 average Google-based review platform and growing five-star review service on TrustPilot.
Between 2020 and 2021, our referrals quadrupled, and we welcomed our first associate (Sarah McCully) - who is now our deputy director, and an office administrator. We ran our services from our headquarters in Hampshire and in 2024, we expanded again, opening our Wales office and welcomed two more social work consultants (Jaimie Huntley and Akhil Jose), followed by an occupational therapy consultant (Michelle Tandy).
In March 2025, like a true supernova, we expanded into Nova Care, marking our evolution from Social Worker Gary, a solo practitioner service into the multi-award-winning team of experts we have today, with our sixth and seventh consultants being onboard for the Summer of 2025 (one nurse consultant and one speech and language consultant).
About Nova Care
"We are committed to shining the path forward in private client assessments and support services across the UK."
We are the only multi-national award-winning private client practice, serving our customers seven days a week. We are the proud and trusted partner with more than 35 law firms and 25 councils nationwide who retain us for expert advice, consultation and instructions. At Nova Care, we deliver rapid, reliable and high-quality assessments from one-off instructions to ongoing support services, including our new professional Deputy and Attorney (Health and Welfare) service.
What sets us apart is our unwavering commitment to delivering excellence in our respective practices. We are also the only UK practice where all associates and consultants have held senior leadership or management positions across the NHS or Local Authority, which enhances the quality and standard of our services. Some of our staff are trainers and academic researchers, making the care brighter for all. While it is not a requirement in the UK to hold management, leadership or academic excellence for any private practitioner, this additional skill set adds exceptional depth, insight, skill and professionalism to everything we do, and we are often quoted as providing the best service in the UK.
"We are proud to lead the way in independent private client care practice across the UK - consistently delivering excellence, first time, every time, and making care brighter for you, your client and families"
