History of CMSUK

In the late 1990’s many people working in case management in the UK, primarily in the personal injury industry, became concerned at the lack of standards or structure to the case management profession in the UK. Many of these case managers were from overseas where case management is an accepted practice.

Case management has been practised since the early 1900s, originating in the USA and now widely used in various other countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa. Early providers of case management services were community nurses and social workers who co-ordinated services through the public health sector. Following World War II, insurance companies began to employ nurses and social workers to assist with the co-ordination of care for soldiers who suffered complex injuries requiring multidisciplinary intervention.

In the early 1970s formalised case management evolved with pilot projects within the American public health system. In general the purpose was to co-ordinate, facilitate and follow, over time a clients use of a variety of health and social services. During this time it was acknowledged that a variety of professionals were carrying out a case management type role.

The focus of case management varied with the nature of the organisation providing case management services, the target population and the discipline of the case manager. As cost containment emerged in the health care industry, the dual priorities of case management became meeting the clients needs and making good use of community resources.

The utilisation of case management companies in the UK is proving its worth in terms of improving rehabilitation, quality of life and increasing client satisfaction. Additional benefits are improved compliance with healthcare regime, promoting client self-determination, facilitating client independence while reducing the overall care costs.

The Bodily Injury Claims Management Association (BICMA) an organisation heavily involved in rehabilitation in the insurance industry, shared the concerns of the various case managers. BICMA contacted CMSA and negotiated the purchase of the franchise and invited UK case managers to a meeting which in turn led to the formation of CMSUK.

In 1999 a working party was formed with representatives from Munich Re, Swiss Re, BICMA and various private case management firms.

CMSUK was formed on 03/07/2001 and became active in January 2002 when Lord David Hunt of the Wirral became one of the founding members/directors and later became the President of the organisation.

We had founding members who gave CMSUK both the finances and the intellectual support they required to develop the Society.

The founding members were:

• Allianz
• Aviva
• Axa
• Beachcroft LLP
• BICMA
• Chartis MR
• Department of Health
• FOIL
• Frenkel Topping
• Motor Accident Solicitors Society (MASS)
• NHS Litigation Authority
• QBE European Operations
• Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust
• St Lloyd's Foundation Exeter
• The Children's Trust Tadworth
• University of Brighton - Faculty of Health
• UNUM

CMSUK became a charity in February 2006.

We later developed the corporate membership category which has been invaluable both financially and commercially to enable CMSUK to keep abreast of what the market, thinks, needs and would like of case managers.

Our corporate members can be viewed by clicking here.

In order to create a profession it was a priority to develop Standards of Practice for case manager’s which were developed by the newly created Standards committee. We have recently had the second edition launched at the annual CMSUK conference in 2009.

Following on from the initial Standards, were the development of the Guidelines to Practice which are now integrated into the Standards of Practice. These Standards are now in Canada and Australia, to assist those countries in developing their own standards for their case managers.

In 2007 we developed, in conjunction with the British Association of Case Managers the Code of Ethics for Case Managers. This was launched at the House of Lords in June 2007.

CMSUK has a fully elected board. To view the profiles of the current board of CMSUK please click here.

We have various committees staffed by volunteers, the purpose being to increase awareness of case management, educate our members and anyone interested in case management.

Presently we are embarking on a research project to determine the educational needs for case managers. This one year research study at Masters level will serve to develop the educational pathways for case management in the future.