Case management

One of the most recently-established businesses in UK case management is growing strongly, with ongoing recruitment and an increasing case load. 

Birchwood & Co was formed in December last year as a specialist complex injury case management company and has already assembled a sizeable team of case managers with expertise in a host of areas.  The business is also the only case management company nationally to have in-house clinical psychology expertise.  While having only been in business for four months, Birchwood & Co - based in Sheffield with a satellite office in London - is continuing to win new work nationally, and is recruiting in case management, business development and marketing roles as it aims to keep pace with its fast-developing workload and profile. 

Seriously injured armed forces personnel are being helped to rebuild their lives through the work of a case management company in their support of Help for Heroes. 

AJ Case Management has enabled the much-loved charity to build their own case management service, to serve the unique requirements of service men and women who are injured in action and enable them to access the healthcare they need.  In addition to the in-house support they have enabled at Help for Heroes, AJ Case Management supports a number of veterans directly in securing the specialist rehabilitation package for their needs. 

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 case management company has changed hands through a management buy-out (MBO). AKA Case Management has been sold by founder Angela Kerr to new directors Dawn Abernethy and Andrew Rose.

Dawn and Andrew have both been part of the senior leadership team at the Nottingham-based case management company for a number of years and will now oversee the continuing growth and development of the business.

The new body being created to help shape the future of case management is moving closer to its accreditation ambitions through the creation of a new role within the team.

The Institute of Registered Case Managers (IRCM) has been in the planning for several years and will set a host of stringent technical and professional standards, which will enable the organisation to be accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA).

Ten years ago, Louise Sheffield established Active Case Management, despite having no background in case management. Here, she reflects on the growth of the company in terms of size, reach and reputation and how they are entering their second decade with positivity.

“Very refreshing but completely terrifying.” Louise Sheffield’s early experience of setting up on her own in case management was a far cry from her career to date. “I’d worked in the NHS and at the time there weren’t many people doing the work I did,” reflects Louise, whose background is in occupational therapy specialising in brain injury.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a “significant impact” on case management practice and the lives of those living with brain injuries, early findings of a UK-wide research project have revealed.

Last year, BABICM launched a study among its members to discover the true impact of the pandemic, and how case managers and clients alike are adapting to the ongoing restrictions. The study has gathered the personal accounts of people with brain injuries across the country, and their support networks, to understand how lives and working practices have changed since March last year.

Case management has faced unprecedented challenges during the past year, which has seen it respond with positivity and agility to ensure service to its clients could be maintained. In the latest in our Q&A series, Sarah Cooke from Bush & Co shares her experiences, and how the newly-adopted telerehab will undoubtedly play a role going forward.

Can you summarise how the past few months have been for you It’s certainly been the biggest challenge of my career! But I feel proud of how we have all pulled together, in whichever capacity we work with our clients, so they have been able to continue their rehabilitation.

An event which examines the latest research, thinking and best practice in chronic pain is bringing an international audience together with leading speakers from around the world.

The second International Chronic Pain Virtual Summit is being held on Thursday and Friday next week, and offers a programme of presentations from expert speakers alongside networking opportunities for delegates. The free event has over 1,500 clinicians, case managers, insurance and legal professionals and others with special interest in chronic pain set to attend, to hear from some of the leading names in chronic pain globally.

Brain cells vulnerable to Alzheimer’s Disease have been identified for the first time, in a breakthrough scientists hope could lead to targeted treatments to boost the brain’s resilience.

It has so far remained unknown in Alzheimer’s research why some brain cells succumb to the disease years before symptoms first appear, while others seem unaffected by the degeneration surrounding them until the disease’s final stages. Now, in a groundbreaking study, the neurons that are among the first victims of the disease -  accumulating toxic ‘tangles’ and dying off earlier than neighbouring cells - have been identified for the first time.