Q: Emily, how long have you been with Corporé, and in which roles?

I joined Corporé in 2007 as a Case Manager. Since then I’ve worked as a Team Manager and, from 2014, as the Clinical Quality Manager.

Q: What do you do day to day and what responsibilities do you have in your current role?

I’m responsible for all the clinical care delivered within both Corporé and TTN. To help me do that I recruit suitable third party experts as well as our internal staff. I also supervise and support our clinical staff, handle yearly audit and training programmes and ensure use of standardised resources. My days can be varied but include overseeing cases from a clinical excellence standpoint,  delivering training and implementing projects to continuously improve our services. I also like to keep abreast of national and industry developments and as such I’m a Director of the leading body within the UK for the field of case management, CMSUK.

So you could say that I’m normally very busy!

Q: Why do you think clinical quality is so important for a rehab/case management company?

It’s essential for companies such as Corporé to have a Clinical Quality Framework, to have staff dedicated to implementing it, and to proactively manage continuous improvement. I’m passionate about the care that every single one of our injured parties receives; I’m also reassured to know that our internal processes and structures are there to support us in delivering the best care we can in every single case we manage.

Q: What enhancements has Corporé made as a result of the clinical audits and reviews?

Our multi-layered audit programmes provide us with a wealth of data and feedback on our services from a variety of perspectives. In response to the changes in working practices brought about the pandemic, we developed our 2021 CPD programme based on audit findings. This year we’ve delivered a series of interactive workshops for case managers using the Teams platform, and we’ve supported ‘lunch and learn’ sessions and focus groups allowing case managers to continue to utilise the clinical knowledge we have within the business. Another enhancement we’ve made is in how we refer treatment to our sister company, TTN, for a wide variety of treatment interventions. Our integrated referral system now ensures that all the appropriate clinical supporting information is identified by case managers and seamlessly shared with our experts who provide treatments.

Q: How have you seen Corporé develop over the years?

I’ve seen both Corporé and the industry develop over the last 15 years. I joined Corporé when they won their first major contract in the rehabilitation market. Since then we’ve gone from strength to strength – we’re confident in what we can do well and we’ve learned new and adaptive ways to deliver our services. The pandemic was a prime example of that. But even before the pandemic we were striving to deliver consistently high standards across our business. I do believe there’s now a much better understanding from insurers and solicitors on the benefits of rehabilitation for both the injured party’s recovery and the claims process. Expectations of what a case management company should deliver have definitely increased for the better, which has resulted in us improving our staff induction, supervision and training, which I’ve enjoyed being involved in. Corporé remains committed to bringing new healthcare professionals into the area of case management and supporting them in their development.

Q: In terms of tech and moving to embracing digital triage and treatment, how do you clinically govern remote digital? What checks do you put in place to ensure the adaptations are appropriate?

Though the way of delivering or receiving treatment may be changing, the principles that we use to ensure clinical quality and governance are very similar. As with any intervention we ensure there’s sufficient clinical evidence or reasoning for its use. We will then evaluate the outcomes of treatment through a variety of measures and clinical markers. We also review the use of such technologies in other settings and by other organisations (often the NHS) and are able to audit against expected trends or behaviours.

Q: What excites you about your role?

I enjoy my role in that I’m constantly using my clinical knowledge and experience across a wide breadth of services, always using both my physiotherapy knowledge and my psychology background to make decisions. I enjoy the challenge of striving to improve the delivery of our services; I get great satisfaction from seeing how Corporé and the industry in general have improved over the years.  

Q: Speaking of challenges, can you tell me about your visual impairment, and how you manage day to day at work?

I have a congenital eye condition (aniridia) and my vision has deteriorated over the last 5-10 years. I was registered as severely sight impaired in 2016 and it has been a bit of a journey adjusting to my limitations and accepting more help from others. At work I have magnification software, dictation and a bright yellow keyboard to help me with the IT side of things. Colleagues are very supportive and help when I need to read small or lengthy text, assist with travel, or make the tea in the busy office kitchen! One of the key things to feeling supported in the workplace is an openness to talk about what is difficult and revisit solutions as required.

Q: Tell us about your role on the board of the CMSUK. E.g. what does it involve, responsibilities, etc.

As a Director I represent not only case managers within Corporé but all members of the organisation across the sector. I attend board meetings focusing on the running and direction of the organisation, and I volunteer to support events and activities that CMSUK undertake. This year I was involved in the preparations for the virtual Awards Ceremony. We received good feedback for our videos with the finalists – they really brought the entries to life. I’m now an expert on recording zoom interviews!