After five years at the helm of the UK’s professional body for brain injury and complex case management, Angela Kerr certainly has a lot to reflect on.
During her tenure as chair of BABICM, the organisation has seen significant structural change, including rearrangements and introduction of new sub-groups being established, to help bring together specific talent and interest and make the decision process more efficient.
BABICM has also proved to be an invaluable resource to members during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering support and guidance during a hugely turbulent time for case management and the neuro sector, during which significant revision to traditional practice was needed.
Membership has also grown from over 500 to more than 900 members, as BABICM continues to build its standing and reputation as a central resource for case managers nationally working in brain and complex injury work.
Now, as Angela prepares to step down from her role at the BABICM AGM in June, handing over the chair to Vicki Gilman, she has already committed to the next challenge – becoming chair of the newly-created Institute of Registered Case Managers (IRCM), hailed as the future of case management.
“We’ve done a lot in the past five years and I now think BABICM is an organisation set for the world ahead,” reflects Angela.
“I’m proud of what we’ve done, it’s been very much a team effort and I suppose you could say I’ve coordinated and directed the talent and skills within the group to make things happen – but good things don’t come without a lot of hard work.
“When I took over, I had a few objectives. I wanted to sort out the database and website, refine the structures and I wanted to link with other like-minded people and organisations to work together more collaboratively.
“In the past five years, that has been done. It is with great pleasure that I can say we have achieved everything I had on my list when I first took over.”
“As part of the restructuring, we appointed an operations manager to take things forward, and we’re working with bodies like UKABIF and the Court of Protection and many others who link in with what we’re doing.
“I’m delighted with the growth in membership, and we’ve really increased our delivery of training and events, we have a phenomenal programme which will help equip case managers for the future ahead.
“I also wanted to produce a book about the history of BABICM, in this our 25th year, to show how far we’ve come. I signed that off in January, so that has also become reality.
“So I’m in the nice position of feeling I’ve achieved all the things I wanted to achieve. I have really enjoyed my time as chair, it’s the right time to hand over to someone who can take BABICM to that next level.”
Having presided over BABICM during the COVID-19 pandemic and the huge change that necessitated from case management, Angela is proud of the organisation’s response.
“It was very important we gave people direction and guidance when they needed it, and we did that. I’m really proud of how we worked alongside the other membership bodies during that time, all of us as chairs realised the importance of doing that,” says Angela.
“It’s been an incredibly challenging time, and the priority has been keeping everyone concerned safe, clients and members alike, but we’ve always supported our members in doing what is right.
“Every situation is different, some case managers are registered with the CQC and were able to access resources those that weren’t couldn’t , so there was a lot to respond to and often some firefighting to be done.
“But throughout, we’ve been a resource for people, we’ve banded together and been one team.
“We continue to collate and share information with the membership to try and get it all in one place, such as the guidance around the vaccination programme and where to go.
“Testing is being done every week now and the vaccination programme is well underway, they’ve both been game changers really, so we’ve come a long way – but there will still be challenges for our members. We’ll take every day as it comes but BABICM is always here to support people.”
Through the structural change within BABICM, Angela – former owner of AKA Case Management – was able to use her characteristic love of creativity, good organisation and order to maximum effect.
“I love running projects and shaping things, refining them to make things happen – I loved doing puzzles as a child and I think solving things is something that has never left me,” she says.
“When I came into the role of BABICM chair, I did what I’d do in any situation, I evaluated what we had, looked at what was needed as a priority and identified a plan of how we could get there.
“For me, the growth of any organisation requires a lot of wheels to turn and it needs people to work together to achieve that.
“Through refinements of our sub groups and introduction of the operations person, this has played a big role, and takes a lot of specific actions away from the general meetings. The subgroup members are brilliant and work really hard all of them also members of BABICM and work within the industry.
“I think that this has enabled BABICM to take the big steps forward and shapes the organisation for the future. It’s also something we are doing with IRCM.”
The development of the IRCM over several years brings together BABICM, CMSUK and the VRA, and Angela’s integral role in its creation will continue with her appointment as chair of the newly-established body.
IRCM is currently working towards accreditation from the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), which, once secured, will help to shape the future of the whole profession and the way case managers operate.
“It’s a really exciting time and is certainly keeping me busy, as there is a lot of work to do,” says Angela.
“The initial joint guidance we created is being updated to meet PSA criteria, it’s very much a developing situation, as we’re working towards PSA accreditation, which is a very stringent process. But we see the IRCM as being the future, so it’s vital we do this for case management as a profession.
“We know there are people setting up as case managers and working with clients, who sometimes may not have the high level of professional competence and standards we would like to see, but at the minute there is little we can do about that.
“By creating the IRCM, accredited by the PSA, and registering case managers, we are bringing in a way of checking competence and ability to practice as a case manager which is what the industry wants to see.
“This will be hugely valuable for case management and for increased levels of confidence and trust in what we do, and I’m looking forward to leading the development of IRCM.
“Things will certainly not be any less busy or challenging than they have been, but I prefer it that way.”
