CASE MANAGEMENT
Registration, registration, REGISTRATION Niccola Irwin, MD of Keystone Case Management, on the much-needed changes the case management sector can expect to see this year
final version and register in place later this year. The eventual accreditation process will be overseen by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA), an independent body which is accountable to the UK parliament, and already oversees the professional registers of the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the Health and Care Professions Council. In 2021 I began chairing the Standards Committee of the IRCM. I can safely say that there is a lot of change to come t is now over a decade since in the industry, not just with the launch of the register, but the British Association of in the years immediately afterwards as the accreditation Brain Injuries and Complex process matures. Case Management (BABICM), Initially, we envisage a period during which membership the Case Management Society UK of the IRCM will be open to members of the founding (CSMUK), and later the Vocational organisations who have at least two years FTE as a registered Rehabilitation Association (VRA) Niccola Irwin health professional and have at least two years FTE first began to collaborate on the experience as a case manager or have a minimum of four development of a professional body for case managers. years FTE experience as a case manager. As it stands the case management profession remains Moving forwards, and once the certificate of proficiency largely unregulated. Most case managers do have a is available, it is planned that all applicants will need to have background in the health and social care profession, but the achieved the certificate, have a minimum of two years FTE industry has for at least two decades felt that this alone is as a case manager, and provide a self-audit that evidences not automatically enough to undertake case management at working in line with the IRCM Code of Ethics and Conduct the highest level. and meeting the IRCM Technical and Business Standards. To become an Occupational Therapist, for example, As well as my work with the IRCM, I serve as MD of I was required to complete a degree in occupational Keystone Case Management, and have over 20 years therapy and gain practical experience for the delivery of of experience in the case occupational therapy through management field. This is a In 2021 I began chairing the supervised placements. As project that Keystone has case management is not Standards Committee of the IRCM. worked very hard to support. currently taught in any I can safely say that there is a lot of We intend to be prepared at the qualifying programmes, earliest opportunity to support however, there is currently change to come in the industry, not our existing case managers to no equivalent qualification in just with the launch of the register, meet, and indeed exceed, the case management for those requirements of the IRCM. but in the years immediately crossing into the field. Ultimately, our job is to protect This means that literally afterwards as the accreditation the service user, who can surely anyone could establish process matures. . only benefit from an end to the themselves as a case manager current situation of unregulated with no qualifications, no case management and the arrival of a degree of protection professional accreditation, and no experience in the role. Given that we frequently work with some of the most vulnerable and regulation. members of society, this situation is something the industry has long been seeking to address. An early success was the Joint Code of Ethics, which was amended in 2017 to reflect the inclusion of the VRA in discussions. This year, it looks like the long-sought-after official register of case managers may finally come to pass, thanks to the creation in January of the Institute for Registered Case Managers (IRCM). In 2021, an extensive consultation was held on an initial draft standards of practice, and the IRCM hopes to have a Web: www.keystonecasemanagement.co.uk
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