A case management business which expanded significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic and now has the team in place for its next phase of growth is celebrating its fourth anniversary.
Abbie Udall Associates (AUA) was established in November 2018 and supports clients with life-changing injuries across the North East and Yorkshire regions.
Starting out with just Abbie herself – an occupational therapist who moved into case management with one of the biggest providers in the sector – the team has now grown to five, with four other professionals delivering specialist expert services to clients recovering from serious injury.
Now, as the business celebrates its fourth anniversary, AUA is continuing to grow its professional network and presence in the serious injury marketplace. Abbie herself was recently named as catastrophic clinical case manager of the year at the CMSUK Awards, in recognition of the levels of service she delivers to clients.
AUA’s transition from sole practitioner to team came during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the addition of the skills of trusted fellow professionals – three case managers and an assistant – proved vital in the delivery of services to her growing numbers of clients.
“At first I was on my own during the pandemic but my workload was just so much. I brought some fellow therapists in to help because I was so busy with client work, and the intention at that stage wasn’t on creating a bigger business, I certainly wasn’t empire building, it was meeting demand and supporting clients,” says Abbie.
“But through putting our team together, it has been brilliant. We have a full case load and by having people around you, it gives you more opportunity to reflect and to have peer support. I am doing the job I love with a great team around me.
“We have a team of really confident, skilled case managers, and two of our case managers who came here just over two years ago relatively new to case management are now building significant experience in the field. We have physiotherapy, psychology and OT expertise within the team which gives us the ability to deliver an even wider service to clients, while we benefit as a team from sharing insight. It’s working very well.”
Abbie is also keen to work alongside other independent case managers, knowing the challenges of working alone, and is committed to mutually developing best practice for clients.
“Now I have a team I realise the value of peer support and being in it together – we want to see other people doing well too, we aren’t just in this for ourselves, we are all working towards the same goals,” she says.
“We want to share good practice and see other people fly. There’s enough work for us all and we want everyone to do well, and be able to do the best job they can for their clients.
“We really enjoy working alongside others who are working on their own. Being on your own in a business can be a lonely place, we can all help each other and it’s great to check in on each other too.”
As AUA enters its fifth year, having negotiated the many challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is now facing the pressures of the cost of living crisis in continuing clients’ care and therapies.
“There are all kinds of challenges around costs that we’re seeing now and which are probably going to get worse. Employing carers is a challenge anyway, but when their hourly rate is rising as it is – which is only right in this climate, as carers and support workers are doing a fantastic job – then we need to keep a very close eye on the costs,” says Abbie.
“We are being very proactive in these conversations now because clients need to be supported through this, but there is only a certain amount of settlement. We need to be thinking now about what the finances look like and what they are going to look like in the future.”
But while negotiating the latest set of challenges to present since its launch, AUA is continuing to develop and refine its offering to be sure it is what clients and referrers want and need.
“We don’t want to stand still and want to be certain we’re doing the best we can and keep things moving forward,” says Abbie.
“We carry out surveys of solicitors and therapy teams to find out what we do well, what we can change, so we can reflect on what we’re doing and how we can improve. We never want to be stagnant and want to be slicker and better in how we do things.
“The input of those we work with is really important to us, so we can deliver the best possible service to clients and progress their rehab as much as possible.”
