A move by UK insurance companies to employ case managers to help facilitate
early treatment for accident victims, could help firms speed up the
rehabilitation of employees.
Helen Merfield, managing director of the Case Management Society of the UK,
said case management was relatively new to the UK, although it has been
established in the US for more than 10 years.
The insurance industry is about 50 years behind everybody else, she claimed,
but is now becoming aware of the social and financial benefits of
rehabilitating employees.
She emphasised that the role of the case manager was not to interfere with
occupational health, but to support its work, perhaps by providing funding for
treatment that would otherwise be unavailable.
