Basics
What is a case manager?
A case manager coordinates the rehabilitation, care, and support needs of someone with a complex injury, illness, or disability. In the UK, case managers typically work with people recovering from brain injury, spinal cord injury, or catastrophic injury — often funded by a personal-injury settlement, an insurer, or a privately-funding family.
What a case manager actually does
A case manager is the single point of contact who pulls together everything someone needs to recover and live well. That includes commissioning therapy, recruiting and training support workers, finding accommodation, managing budgets, liaising with solicitors, advocating with the NHS, and adjusting the plan as the person changes.
Most case managers in the UK come from a clinical background — occupational therapy, nursing, physiotherapy, or social work. The job is half clinical, half project management, half negotiation. Good ones are calm under pressure and have a strong network of trusted professionals to call on.
When you might need one
Case managers are most commonly involved when:
- Someone has had a brain injury, spinal cord injury, or major trauma and needs coordinated rehabilitation
- A personal-injury claim is paying for ongoing care and rehab
- An insurer is managing a long-term claim and wants quality control over the rehab pathway
- A family is overwhelmed by coordinating multiple therapists, carers, and benefit applications
How case managers are regulated
Case management isn't a regulated title in the same way occupational therapy is. Many practitioners are members of BABICM (British Association of Brain Injury and Complex Case Management) or the CMSUK (Case Management Society UK), which both have membership standards. Most reputable case managers also hold a regulated clinical qualification (HCPC-registered OT, NMC-registered nurse, etc.).
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