The role of Case Managers
Jessica Wise is a Case Manager for UK Case Management, a family business established in 2008 which specialise in providing support to clients who have suffered catastrophic brain, spinal, and polytrauma injuries. In this article, Jessica explains the role of Case Managers and how they work with companies like Caremark Rotherham and Sheffield to achieve the best possible outcomes for clients.
What is a Case Manager?
Case Managers come in at those times in people’s lives where they’ve had a traumatic injury, for example a brain injury suffered in an accident, or where there has been clinical negligence at birth resulting in life-limiting conditions.
What is the role of a Case Manager?
We coordinate, assess, plan, and evaluate all options and services required to meet people’s health, well-being, and social needs, we also manage the support package on behalf of a client as appropriate.
Another Case Manager tells her clients that we’re a modern-day Mary Poppins because we can do absolutely anything really!
What does an average day of a Case Manager look like?
There’s no such thing as an average day because every day is vastly different. If I took one recent day as an example to demonstrate, I spent time talking to someone who teaches DJ skills because one of my clients wants to become a DJ; then I spoke to a therapist about a client’s manual handling needs; I coordinated a meeting of professionals and then ended the day by looking at a holiday for a client in Disneyland. See, very varied!
What is the best thing about being a Case Manager?
We can actually make people’s dreams come true!
When are you normally engaged as Case Managers?
One route, for example, is where someone’s been involved in a car accident which wasn’t their fault, and they have instructed a personal injury solicitor who will start their journey along the litigation process seeking damages. We are often brought in as Case Managers to coordinate their care needs and provide evidence and support along that litigation process. Once a case settles, dependent on the client’s needs, they may then continue with Case Management to help them make the most of life after their injury.
A second route would be if someone’s case has already settled and they’re under the court of protection who manage their property and affairs; we may be instructed to support and coordinate all of their therapy and care needs if required.
What do you look for when choosing a care provider to work with your clients?
My priority is finding support workers who match the client. Our clients want to get to know the support worker because, nine out of ten times, they’re working with them for a long period of time so they want to get to know who’s coming in each day and who they’re sharing their life with essentially and who they can trust. Therefore, I always strive to look for a care provider who can provide consistency when it comes to their staff. If we can get staff working with a client who are consistent, reliable, enjoy their job, then essentially, it’s always going to be beneficial for our clients. This means the clients will be engaged, supported, and feel reassured. A lot of our clients have dealt with a traumatic injury, which means their lives have changed massively and they’re starting to rebuild a different life, so it’s important they feel the right support is in place for them.
How did you start working with Caremark Rotherham and Sheffield?
I was instructed on a case where Caremark Rotherham and Sheffield was the chosen provider for the client and our relationship developed from there. They are now definitely one of my ‘go-to’ providers when it comes to supporting our clients.
What do you like about working with Caremark?
You quite quickly learn the qualities of a care provider and what I particularly liked about Caremark Rotherham and Sheffield from the outset was their family-friendly approach and the way in which they are structured. They have a registered manager but also case leaders who are assigned to different cases, and as a Case Manager it’s nice that I can pick up the phone and know exactly to whom I need to speak.
Are they responsive?
Yes, very responsive and this is important because we’re dealing with people’s lives and many clients want a response immediately. The communication with Caremark has been brilliant.
Can you provide examples of clients who have achieved positive outcomes through Caremark Rotherham and Sheffield’s support?
They recently supported a client (child) who, due to changes in their parents’ health and living circumstances and therapy needs, required a new package of care at short notice. The essential criteria was it needed to be consistent, reliable, and we needed to have confidence in the support team because it’s unsettling, especially when you effectively have strangers coming into the home. Caremark were fantastic at finding a variety of support staff, including male Support Workers, which is great because this client wanted that male interaction. We arranged for the Support Workers to be trained by the client’s therapist in order to make this transitional period as smooth as possible for the client and for his family, and it is working out really well.
They have also worked with a client who has successfully started rock climbing and supported clients on a number of holidays.
What advice would you give to people and/or their families if they find themselves in need of a Case Management service?
The clients who come to us have suffered life-limiting life-changing injuries. We understand the traumatic impact and how it not only changes the life of the person who has the injury, but their family too. But it doesn’t have to be the end. Life does still continue, and you can still reach those goals that you want, and are the ones to support you in doing that and give you the guidance if needed.
We have clients that go rock climbing, canoeing, rock festivals and we even have clients who have gone into fashion modelling.
Our role is to really push forward the client’s wishes, make sure their voice is heard and help them achieve. It’s a real privilege to work alongside them and companies like Caremark Rotherham and Sheffield to do this.
It’s the most magical rewarding job and we get to meet and work with such a fantastic bunch of people from clients, families, support workers, therapists, teachers, and everyone’s end goal is to support the client in obtaining and reaching the goals they wish.
If you are a Case Manager and would like to find out more about our complex and clinical care support, please get in touch today.