Unite Professionals Ltd

Lovely feedback for our Case Manager Julie McRann!

This client presented with a complex lower limb fractures following an accident in early 2023. Julie is supporting the client, and has helped them access services including an OT, physiotherapy and psychological support.

Julie qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 2008 and has over 14 years’ experience in Occupational Therapy. Julie developed her expertise whilst working in a variety of rehabilitation settings, both in the UK and Australia. Julie worked in the UK for 11 years in both the NHS and at Headley Court, the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre.

We are looking for exceptional people with drive and determination to achieve the best for their clients, advocating and coordinating complex rehabilitation case management and support services. We are especially keen to hear from those with specialist expertise in the fields of neurological / brain injury and who are interested in employed positions.

You will have a recognised clinical qualification in Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Speech & Language Therapy, Social Work or Physiotherapy, candidates should also have a sound understanding of the personal injury rehabilitation sector and / or experience with planning care packages for those with complex and continuing healthcare needs.

To find out more visit: https://uk.indeed.com/job/case-manager-fbad9708a691aeb9

Make your next move, your best move.

One week to go until we welcome our fabulous case managers, clinical team and office staff to our annual conference.

Each year we support our whole team to attend our two day learning event, designed specifically to inform and improve our case management practice.

This year we are delighted to welcome speakers from Outer Temple Chambers, AXA Insurance and VOX Coaching and exhibitors from Blatchford, Dorset Orthopaedic, Working Conversations, Silver Fern Therapy, Calvert Reconnections and the OT Practice.

This event not only serves to educate, but support networking with some of our therapy services, and of course, for our team to meet up and have a good dance.

Meet Sarah, one of our talented case managers working in and around the Berkshire area.

Sarah hold a degree in Occupational Therapy, and over 25 years’ experience working within health and social care. She is experienced in working with adults across a range of services including complex hospital discharge, inpatient and community rehabilitation, neuro rehabilitation, crisis response, as well as in complex moving and handling, risk assessment, and quality and performance monitoring. Her work within adult social care with people with complex long-term needs (including cerebral palsy and Traumatic brain Injury), enables her to consider long term impact and future planning.

Sarah currently has capacity to work with new clients, conduct INAs and support their ongoing rehabilitation management.

Please email [email protected] for more details.

We are proud of our continued support of Compassion Acts, a Southport based charity who work alongside and build upon the local Food Pantry and Food Bank.

Their vision is "to bring people together from the local neighbourhoods, uniting them with the resources and passion of local churches and other organisations – for projects and interventions, which achieve real enhancements in the social wellbeing of families and individuals."

Compassion Act are looking to recruit a Public Engagement and Media Officer in a part time, paid role in Southport. For more information, follow the link below.

https://compassionacts.uk/jobs/

Eid Mubarak!

We hope that our colleagues, clients and customers celebrating have a peaceful and joyful Eid al-Fitr.

AVAILABLE FOR NEW CASES

Venu holds a Bachelors Degree is Physiotherapy and an MSc in Neuro Musculoskeletal Healthcare. He has practiced in both NHS and private practice for many years, supporting individuals who have suffered TBI, amputation, spinal cord injury and complex orthopaedic injury to name but a few.

Venu joined Unite Professionals as a Case Manager earlier this year after previously working alongside us as rehabilitation therapist on a number of cases. His skills set, determination and enthusiasm for his work are formidable, making him a truly valuable asset to our team.

Venu is a registered member of BABICM, CMSUK and HCPC. He also speaks fluent Hindi Tamil. He has a two hour catchment area but is willing to travel further distances to bring his services to meet the wider needs of rehabilitation clients.

For more details visit https://www.uniteprofessionals.co.uk/about-us-2/meet-the-team/case-manager-venu-durairaj/ or email [email protected]

Over the last 12 months we have welcomed many new faces to the Unite Professionals family. With each new recruit, reflections on own practice and methods are made possible as we learn from each other.

Our MD, Jo Evans says "The wonderful thing about welcoming new team members to an established team is it promotes reflection on practice to the opportunity to revisit great documents".

Well deserved praise for our Clinical Lead, Joanna Fletcher Smith.

Client NW was instructed to Unite Professionals in 2021 following an RTA which left her them with significant injuries to their dominant hand. They underwent ORIF (open reduction internal fixation) surgery to treat the injuries followed by hand therapy. Joanna worked with them to support their goal of re-establishing their former level of hand movement, and returning to work in their previous field of employment. They now report that many of the areas of life impacted by the accident have resumed to, or near to a pre-injury state.

A huge shout out to the fabulous women of Unite Professionals on this .

The aim of this years International Women's Day is to empower all to embrace equity. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances, and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome. People start from different places, so true inclusion and belonging require equitable action.



https://www.internationalwomensday.com/EquityEquality

Fabulous praise for our Senior Clinical Lead, Margot Widdup. Mr W was instructed to Unite Professionals in 2021 after suffering significant upper limb injuries following a motorbike accident. With the support and robust clinical recommendations and reasoning from Margot, they received a tailored package of physical, mental and occupational therapy support to aid their recovery. The client has now successfully returned to work in an adapted role and making good progress.

tuesday

The last of our Julies to start this week, we are delighted to welcome Julie McRann to our team as .

Julie is based in Surrey, qualified as an Occupational Therapist in 2008 and has over 14 years’ experience in Occupational Therapy. She developed her expertise whilst working in a variety of rehabilitation settings, both in the UK and Australia.

Julie worked in the UK for 11 years in both the NHS and at Headley Court, the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre.

This experience has enabled Julie to develop expertise in the following areas:
• Neurological conditions
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Cognitive rehabilitation
• Neurological upper limb rehabilitation
• Vocational rehabilitation
• Medical and surgical injuries
• Complex orthopaedic management
• Discharge planning

Meet the Team: Cathy Lambert

Cathy’s abilities are underpinned by a very broad spectrum of clinical experience. She has worked with adults with a wide range of conditions, mostly complex needs. This ranges from client centred support planning where she carries out full assessments, identifying their key outcomes, managing transition from hospital to home in the form of reablement, major housing adaptations and equipment provision and is specialist in assistive technology, having implemented a trial involving assistive technology..

Cathy is experienced in all of the following areas:

Neurological conditions
Environmental assessment
Vocational rehabilitation
Housing and Adaptations
Discharge planning
Complex orthopaedic
Dementia
Learning Disabilities
Moving and Handling

Amazing feedback for Margot Widdup, Senior Clinical Lead. Margot has worked alongside this client for the last 18 months after they sustained serious MSK injuries during a motorcycle accident, and has advocated for them to receive the right rehab services to support their recovery.

"I would love to give some feedback on Margot. Can I just say that she has been absolutely amazing and truly a life changer in what she has done for me since my accident, and throughout my rehabilitation."

Client BW, Stockton on Tees.

Hello Julie Gardener!

Julie joined the Unite Professionals family this week as a Case Manager. Julie is an experienced Social Worker and Case Manager who has worked in the statutory, charitable, and private sector for over 11 years. She began her career working in a community-based team for a Local Authority, working with adults who had multiple physical and/or learning disabilities, dementia, sensory loss, and mental health needs.

Julie is experienced in the following areas:
• Acquired & Traumatic Brain Injury
• Stroke
• Dementia
• Neurological conditions
• Elderly care
• Mental health
• Learning disabilities
• Supporting social & emotional adjustment
• Palliative & end of life care
• Local Authority & care packages

Welcome to Unite, Julie

Say hello to Julie Taylor who has joined us as . Julie has been a for 32 years, working extensively in both the NHS and private practice. She enjoys working both in a team, and as an autonomous practitioner in the community, with the past 8 years working in community based integrated therapies teams.

Just is based in Lancashire and is experienced in the following areas:

Orthopaedic
Rheumatology
Biomechanics
Stroke
Complex Trauma
Neurological Conditions
Workplace Assessments
Elderly Care
Community Rehabilitation.

We are delighted to welcome Sarah Johnson to the Unite Professionals family as Clinical Lead.

Sarah is a highly skilled and . She has utilised her diverse range of clinical skills and expertise to rehabilitate and restore with her clients. She is experienced in performing a wide range of clinical, functional and return to work assessments, in addition to several years of multi-disciplinary working in the NHS, private healthcare, corporate, public and medico-legal fields providing a breadth of industry knowledge.
This range of experience and expertise enables her to be effective, holistic and adaptable in her approach to managing the complex and changing rehabilitation needs of her clients.

Sarah says "I was drawn to work for Unite as their core values, of driving client-centred progress to achieve sustainable outcomes, are synonymous with my passion for well-being, helping people to optimise their quality of life and reach their full potential".

Welcome to the team, Sarah.

Meet the team: Jamie Robinson

Jamie is our Quality and Compliance Officer, and has worked for oversight bodies and regulators in some form or other for almost 10 years to include data protection (ICO), NHS complaint oversight (Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman), policing oversight (IOPC), and the energy industry (Ombudsman Services).

From on National Park to the next, Jo has now competed 942km of her virtual journey from Lands End to John O'Groats to reach the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

At almost 2200 square kilometers, the Yorkshire Dales National Park is home to some spectacular sights including the Ingleton Waterfalls, and the Ribblehaead Viduct.

24,000 people live within the national park and many are supported by the network of Trussell Trust Food Banks across it.

The food banks across the network have worked to create and offer a range of services that can help people from reaching a crisis point in the future and make sure they can afford the essentials, like food. Everyone’s experience of poverty is different, and it’s vital that people receive tailored, dignified support.

Find out more: https://www.trusselltrust.org/what-we-do/more-than-food/

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Absolutely fantastic praise for one of our , Ronel Terblanche.

"Ronel has been amazing, always bright & bubbly. Positive outlook on life. Ronel totally understood me & where I was coming from when I was trying to explain things! (No easy task in itself)
She has picked me up, when my emotions have got the better of me.

I never felt any judgement from Ronel, she took me for who I am. Ronel has put things into perspective on numerous occasions, which always helps!

I think Ronel has seen me at my worst, but where I would normally hide my feelings away from most people, including my partner & family, I never did this with Ronel, I felt I could be totally honest & open with her.

Ronel was totally awesome with my return to work, her support was rock solid.

The options Ronel gave me through all of this & help with choices & decisions I could not have done without her.

I'm sure in some ways I was the biggest pain as her client.

All I can truly say is there is now a massive hole in my life without Ronel, but our time together will always be with me & I will continue to hear her pearls of wisdom, when I need them most."

Emma qualified as an Occupational Therapist (OT) in 1992 and has worked in both health and social care sectors. She has built on her knowledge and skills in client-centred assessment, formulation and delivery of goal-orientated treatment plans to support and facilitate individuals in overcoming loss of functional independence, be it temporary or permanent.

As well as her case management work, Emma is currently Clinical Lead OT in oncology and palliative care working across an acute hospital trust and the community. As well as delivering education and training to colleagues. Emma carries a complex case load, including individuals with complex and rapidly changing needs as a result of malignant brain tumour and malignant spinal cord compression. She supports both client and family experiencing changes to functional level of independence and the psychological impact this may have.

Emma is experienced in the following areas:

Complex physical disability
Major upper limb trauma
Orthopaedics
Chronic pain
Neurological conditions
Environmental adaptations
Oncology and palliative care

After injury, walking is often a common recovery goal to regain independence and improve confidence and has been acknowledged that spending time in a green space can boost both mental and physical well being.

But lack of information about local accessible paths (including those suitable for wheelchair and pushchair users) can often cause problems.

The Trans Pennine Trail is a 364km network of paths stretching coast to coast from Southport in the west to Hornsea in the east of England.
Although not all the distance is currently accessible, many of paths are suitable for those with compromised mobility, allowing individuals who have sustained an injury that has affected their mobility to access the great outdoors with more confidence.

The TPT website says:

"…Although the whole of the Trans Pennine Trail (370+ miles) is not currently accessible work continues with our project partners to enhance opportunities to ensure the Trans Pennine Trail is accessible to everyone, including wheelchair users, families with pushchairs and young children, older people with limited mobility, people with visual or hearing impairments, people with learning disabilities, people recovering from mental health or physical health issues and anyone else who feels that they are not competent enough without a little more detailed information."

For more information about accessibility and safety https://www.transpenninetrail.org.uk/accessibility/

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Meet Diane!

Diane is based in our Southport office and is part of our rehab coordination team. Diane brings her lively, can-do attitude with her each day to support her cohort of Case Managers. Diane joined Unite in 2022 and boasts a varied career including working for local law firms, and running pubs both in the UK and Germany.

Jo is now 863km into her virtual journey between Lands End and John O'Groats reaching the beautiful Peak District National Park.

Did you know that the Peak District was Britain's first national park and is accessible to walkers, bikers and (in some places), wheelchairs, mobility vehicles and less physically able walkers.

The surrounding areas of the Peak District also support 24 foodbanks in the areas of South Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Manchester and Tameside. helping thousands of families in need.

The food banks work with nutritionists to make sure that the food parcels supplied by food banks in their networks contain at least three days’ worth of nutritionally balanced meals for individuals and families. These emergency food parcels are not designed to meet long-term need – that’s why food banks also offer additional support like debt advice where possible.

Find out more: https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-help/emergency-food/food-parcel/

We are always pleased when a client or customer takes the time to communicate with us and share their feelings about our service and were so pleased with this wonderful feedback from a long standing customer with whom we work on many cases together.

"We have used the services of Unite Professionals Ltd for the past few years and can honestly say that they have been a joy to work with. Their case managers are efficient, friendly, and come with a wealth of experience, and most importantly, our clients seem happy with the help and expertise that they are receiving from them."

Meet the team: Claudette Joint

Claudette started working as a case manager in 2015. During this time she has demonstrated the ability to accurately assess a client’s functional, vocational and psychological changes following trauma, and implement complex treatment plans accessing statutory and private facilities to meet her client’s changing needs. She has a wealth of clinical experience in trauma and orthopaedics which serves her clinical reasoning and understanding of treatment pathways. Claudette’s varied experience as an Occupational Therapist provides a broad knowledge base which allows her to make informed decisions regarding appropriate treatments for various conditions/presentations, availability of treatments on the NHS and liaisons with numerous teams to bring recommendations into action.

Claudette is experienced in all of the following areas:

Orthopaedics
Neurology
Wheelchair assessment
Unplanned Care
Orthopaedic paediatric case management
Elderly Care
Surgery
Home adaptations
Amputee and limb salvage
Brachial Plexus Injury

Meet Bethan Davies, our Senior Personnel Officer.

Bethan is based in our Taunton office and oversees the direct employment of personal assistants for those clients with managed care packages.

Meet the team: Pheobe Scarborough

Pheobe is a rehabilitation coordinator working in our Taunton Office. She is dedicated to her cohort of Case Managers, providing them with outstanding admin support which in turn helps them provide outstanding Case Management Services.