A community established to support independent case managers is expanding across the UK.
3HUB was created to help self-employed, independent case managers with both clinical and business-related aspects of running their own venture, while also providing valuable access to peer support through them becoming part of the community.
By bringing together case managers from across the country, 3HUB also provides a single resource for referrers to match the expertise of members of the community with their clients’ needs.
The national network, which has a sizeable membership in its native South East, is growing strongly across the UK, and recently added its first case manager in Scotland.
A new model for the market, 3HUB was established in 2018 by directors Viv Cooper, Sophie Greengrass and Kaaren Wallace, to create alternative opportunities for case managers, away from the traditional corporate ways of working.
As experienced case managers, Viv, Sophie and Kaaren recognised the need to offer case managers the opportunity to work for themselves but in a supported way.
“We’ve turned the traditional model upside down. We are empowering case managers to make a cultural shift in their working practices by offering them choice around how they work and the opportunity to take the step into independent case management,” says Kaaren.
“Previously, there was little choice if you wanted to progress your career and earning potential as a case manager; you could head into management, or take the brave leap from the of the traditional structure of an employed position to working for yourself.
“3HUB seeks to address this by enabling case managers to take that leap into independent work, but in a supported and safe way. Working for yourself has many benefits, it means you have choice over your caseload, work/life balance and earning capacity.”
Having set up a charity for refugees using Community Organising as a tool, Kaaren could see the power in bringing together people with shared interests and help them work collaboratively towards a common aim.
The 3HUB community model offers case managers, who are all fully qualified healthcare professionals, membership of a structured and governed case management community with the shared aim of providing an individualised and comprehensive case management service to their clients.
“We support our community with everything from business, tech and office support, through to the clinical support needed to practice as a case manager, from an extensive programme of training events to supervision and support to become CQC registered,” says Kaaren.
“While case managers often have amazing clinical skills, none of us trained in order to be business people, we’re all from NHS or health and social care backgrounds – but the support now exists so case managers have another way; they can be independent – together.”
And through its unique offering to case managers, 3HUB is growing strongly, with the home working and flexible patterns necessitated by the pandemic showing many Case managers the benefits of having more freedom permanently.
“We’re all now very used to working with technology through the pandemic, so I think that will give even more case managers the confidence to become part of the 3HUB Community as they recognise the benefits from both the real and virtual world support the community offers,” adds Kaaren.
“We started in the South East so most of our members continue to be based here, but we are growing organically and reaching a wider geographical base.
“We are excited about the future to see 3HUB grow and offer case managers and clients all the benefits that come with working as an independent.
“The 3HUB Community provides a safe, supportive and innovative environment for case managers to work independently so they can excel at what they do best – helping clients rebuild their lives.”
