Council Member Profiles
Jackie Dean - BABICM Chair
In 1992 Cathy became a member of the original steering group which led to the foundation of BABICM in 1996. A social worker, who spent many years working the Institute of Neurological Services in Glasgow, Cathy has worked with people with brain injury since 1984. She was involved in developing the first purpose built rehabilitation unit in Scotland, Scotcare and later worked at the Kemsley Unit at St Andrew’s Hospital, Northampton as unit manager. She was at the same time the Chief Executive for Oakwood Cheshire Home in Stockport.
Cathy has served twice as a Trustee for the national board of Headway and has been involved in the European Brain Injury Society for many years.
In 1995 Cathy established Rehab Without Walls with her partner, Dr Neil Brooks to provide case management, expert reports and community rehabilitation. Rehab Without Walls has 23 case managers working across England to provide community based services. We are registered with C.S.C.I. as a Domiciliary Care Agency.
Cathy has written various articles and chapters including “How to Choose a Rehabilitation Unit”, “Developing Experience in Case Management” and concerning community reintegration post brain injury. She has worked with the Commission for Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities in the USA to develop standards for brain injury rehabilitation and case management. She has been a member of the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) since 1994 and has been involved in the Consultative Forum at the Public Guardianship Office for several years.
Karen Burgin - Company Secretary
Karen is a Registered General Nurse with nearly 25 years post qualification experience. Following her initial registration she practiced in general nursing before specialising within the field of Neurology and Neurosurgery. Since 1992 Karen has been involved in the specific field of community based rehabilitation and acquired brain injury, having established the Nottingham Traumatic Brain Injury Service where she worked as a Brain Injury Case Manager from 1992- 1998.
Karen left the NHS in 1998 and joined Rehab UK where she developed a range of vocational and support services for people with acquired brain injury including a case management service.
Since 2006 Karen has worked for Bush & Company Rehabilitation LLP, who provides a range of medico-legal, assessment and case management services. Karen coordinates the case management services and continues to carry a caseload of adults and children with acquired brain injury. She has a particular interest in the case management and provision of education services for children with brain injury.
Anne Cossar - Treasurer
I qualified as an occupational therapist in 1990 and started my career at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh. In1994 I transferred to the East and Midlothian NHS Trust and later became Head Occupational Therapist.
In 1999 the NHS trusts reconfigured and I became Occupational Therapy Clinical Specialist employed by the Lothian University Hospitals Trust.
In 2000 I left the NHS and set up Phoenix Care and Therapy Limited. ‘Phoenix’ now provides a range of services including case management, care at home, nursing care and a multidisciplinary range of rehabilitation services to children and adults. (Phoenix Therapy and Care Ltd is registered with the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care as a nursing Agency and a Care at Home Provider.) In addition I provide consultancy and research/development services to the statutory authorities locally. This has included advertising the local Education Department regarding the access of children with disabilities in mainstream schools and fulfilling a role as a project worker looking at the transition of young people from statutory children’s to adult services.
Throughout my professional life I have worked with people affected by disability. This includes children and adults affected by acute trauma, for example head injury or spinal injury, as well as those with congenital or acquired conditions such as learning disability or cerebral palsy.
I have experience of setting up and monitoring care packages for people with complex special needs, including acquired brain injury and ventilated clients. This experience has included close liaison with clients and other professionals, care planning, recruitment of qualified and unqualified care staff, implementing rehabilitation programmes, staff training and development, and advising on health and safety issues.
For the last 10 years I have also been preparing medico-legal reports for the courts on the care of those affected by disability or injury, particularly those who have suffered catastrophic injury.
Nikki Ounsworth - Vice Chair
Nikki Ounsworth is a Registered General Nurse who has worked at all stages of the neurological trajectory both in a clinical and managerial capacity. She trained at Stoke Mandeville Hospital qualifying in 1991. She practised in the field of Trauma and Orthopaedics and Spinal Cord Injury for five years, until she moved into the community to work and later manage a multi-professional neurological rehabilitation service in Aylesbury. She subsequently specialised in the field of neurological rehabilitation through her various Clinical Nurse Specialist roles in Acquired Brain Injury in Milton Keynes PCT and Multiple Sclerosis at The Royal Free Hospital in London. Nikki moved into the private sector in 2003 where she has remained since. She recently left her role of Nurse Consultant in Neurological Rehabilitation in 2006 to work with adults and children with complex disabilities including, ABI, SCI and CP. She has recently formed a partnership within COOCI Associates LLP and will continue to carry out immediate needs assessment reports and case management intervention for clients who have sustained catastrophic injuries and who present with complex health and social care needs.
Consolidation of her clinical and academic skills has enabled her to achieve a Bachelor of Arts Degree at Oxford Brookes University and the UKCC Clinical Specialist Practitioner Award ENB A67 and later a post graduate qualification. Her specialist areas of interest is Acquired Brain Injury and Multiple Sclerosis. She is currently working towards her PhD and researching the concept of Fatigue in MS.
Nikki has been a co-editor for the MS Society for their MS Fatigue Booklet published in January 2006 and is a member of the International Working Party for MS Fatigue, for their MS Fatigue Classification, which is due for publication in the next year.
Nikki is a member of the RCN, and various other bodies such as the RCN Rehabilitation Forum, and RCN Continence Care Forum, MS Trust, and Headway. She is a member of the British Association of Brain Injury Case Managers (BABICM) and the Case Management Society of the UK (CMSUK).
Carole Murray - Chair of PR/Marketing/Website Sub group
Carole has worked with disabled adults for the past 25 years, mainly while working in the Department of Work and Pensions. In 1994 she joined Rehab UK to set up a Job Coaching programme for adults with acquired brain injury and has specialised in the field of Brain Injury since then. In 2001 she was instrumental in developing the Rehab UK Case Management Services providing case management to both adults and paediatrics throughout the Midlands.
Realising the need for recognised qualifications to continue in her case management role Carole trained and became a Social Worker in 2003. She is registered with the General Social Care Council.
Following qualification Carole went on to manage the Rehab UK Case Management Services supervising four case managers while continuing to support a small case load. During this time she expanded the service to incorporate occupational therapy and immediate needs provision.
In March 2008 Carole started her own Case Management company, Mercia Case Management, and continues to work with adults with acquired brain injury throughout the Midlands and Worcestershire.
Carole is an advanced member of BABICM and a member of the Brain Injury Social Workers’ Group (BISWG). She attends the BISWG West Midlands regional meetings.
Pam Bunting
Pam Bunting is a qualified social worker and has worked in social care services since 1982. Pam has worked both as a generic social worker and in management posts in various local authority settings. She has gained experience across a range of client groups including childcare/child protection as well as services for disabled adults.
Pam joined Anglia Case Management in October 2004 and was promoted to Senior Case Manager in October 2006. She carries a mixed “adult” case management case load, ranging from clients who are independent with minimal support to those with very complex ongoing needs. She also has responsibility for supervising and mentoring other case managers within the company. She has taken lead responsibility for developing Anglia Case Management Ltd out of hours ‘On-Call’ service and continues to coordinate this service.
Pam takes a small number of expert witness care reports, in addition to her clinical caseload.
She holds social work registration with the GSCC and membership of BABICM at Advanced Practitioner Level.
Karenmarie Smith - CYP Chair
She qualified as an OT in 1983 and has worked in various clinical and managerial positions in the UK and New Zealand. She has worked in many environments including community learning disability, national disability resource centre, mental health community, paediatric – hospital and community. In 1993-1998 she was case manager /OT in Andover Social Services Children and Families team. She joined Independent Living Solutions in 1998 as Senior Case Manager/Paediatric OT working with children who had CP and ABI. She is an advanced member of BABICM since 2004. She is now Director of Operations at ILS, managing and recruiting other case managers, therapists and supervisors. She trains staff and has day to day management of the business.
She feels her 15 years experience as a case manager may be helpful in the promotion of good quality case management now and in the future. She was instrumental in gaining a ‘Training Excellence Award ‘ and the ‘Investors in people Award’ for Independent Living Solutions ltd . She is committed to the future training of all of our Case managers, for the benefit of all of our clients and would like to bring this to the BABICM committee.
Tracey Clarke - Chair of Training Events Sub group
Tracey is a registered General Nurse with in-depth and extensive neurological experience. She trained at Stoke Mandeville Hospital qualifying in 1992. She remained there until 1997 where she gained experience in trauma and orthopaedics, plastic surgery and rheumatology. She moved into the community to work in a multi professional neurological service in Aylesbury. Tracey then developed her management skills across two community hospitals, developing the rehabilitation services. She went on to specialise in the field of neurological rehabilitation through her clinical nurse specialist roles in Acquired Brain Injury in Milton Keynes PCT and multiple sclerosis in Oxford. Tracey has obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Rehabilitation and is working towards her Masters. She is a member of BABICM and CMSUK, Headway, MS Society and RCN. She has recently formed a Partnership with COOCI Associates LLP and will continue to carry out immediate needs assessments and case management intervention for clients who have sustained catastrophic injuries and who present with complex health and social needs.
Penny Haysom - Chair of Education Sub group
Penny Haysom began working in care as an auxiliary nurse in various posts in residential and nursing homes, including the Royal Hospital for Neurodisability in Putney. She qualified as a Registered General Nurse in 1978, having trained at St Charles Hospital in London, and specialised in care of the elderly.
She took a break from nursing to fly with British Airways, but continued to work part time as an agency nurse, working in hospitals, nursing homes and the community. She returned to nursing in 1989, and in 1993 gained a Diploma in Professional Studies in Nursing from Southbank University while working as assistant matron at a 60-bedded joint residential and nursing home in Surrey. Penny also taught part-time on health and social care courses at Spelthorne Sixth Form College, completing a Certificate in Education the same year.
She joined Surrey Social Services as a case manager for people with physical, cognitive and sensory disabilities in 1993, later becoming an operations manager, overseeing a number of case management teams across two Surrey Boroughs. During this time, she was a member of a county panel of senior practitioners who sat weekly to assist case managers with complex cases achieve equity, quality and probity in their care planning.
Penny moved into commissioning services for people with physical, cognitive and sensory disabilities within Surrey Social Services. She sat on the county-wide Acquired Brain Injury Strategy Group, and reviewed and analysed both health and social care services for people with a neuro-disability in Surrey, focusing particularly on the resources used and outcomes achieved. She was seconded to East Surrey Health Authority as commissioning manager, where she negotiated and monitored contracts and agreed quality standards, as well as leading on certain countywide projects such as neuro-disability.
In 2000 Penny became Strategic Development Manager for Adults and Primary Care, a joint post between Camden Social Services and Camden Primary Care Trust. She worked closely with the specialist physical and cognitive disability team, and completed a BA and Diploma in Social Work in 2002. That year she moved to Woking Borough Council as Head of Policy and Performance, a post from which she retired in 2006, when she joined Head First as a Brain Injury Clinical Case Manager.
Bill McKinlay - Chair of Scottish Sub group
Dr McKinlay has over 30 years experience in Neurospsychology, working in brain injury research, in neurosurgical units, and in rehabilitation (residential and community-based). Current practice is focussed on the provision of community-based rehabilitation and support using a case-manager-led multidisciplinary model. As clinical director/neuropsychologist, he provides input and guidance for the team in relation to memory retraining, anger management, emotional adjustment, and also family adjustment to the changes resulting from injury.
He also has extensive medico-legal experience and provides support and supervision to team members from various disciplines at CMS needs/care reports. He has recently participated in conferences in Lisbon (ethical issues in the medico-legal assessment) and Washington (round-table on mild TBI assessment) and has published extensively over the years. He is Associate Editor of the medical/scientific journal Brain Injury.
Tim Gilbert
Tim is a Brain injury case manager with seven and half years experience. He is an Advanced member of BABICM and qualified in adult nursing in 1996. From 1996 to 2001 he worked as a nurse in neuro-rehab unit and also as a manager in neuro-rehab behavioural unit. He is a core member of West Sussex Acquired Brain Injury Network and contributed to the document entitled ‘Gold standard Care Pathway’ for people with an ABI’ 2007.
Sinead Fallon
Sinead has been working for HACM Ltd as a case manager for approximately two and a half years. Her caseload includes children and adults with an acquired brain injury. She has found this client group to be challenging but also extremely rewarding to facilitate their recovery process through co-ordination of the rehabilitation programme. She would like to be considered as a council member to promote BABICM as an organisation and network with like-minded individuals.
Sue Draper
Mark Holloway
I qualified with an MA and Diploma in Social Work in 1995. I then co-ordinated an advocacy service for 3 years for Southwark Disablement Association a voluntary sector organisation set up for and by disabled people.
Since this time I have worked as the Acquired Brain Injury Co-ordinator for East Sussex and with others, initiated the setting up and running of the Eastbourne Headway Support Group.
I joined Head First (Assessment and Case Management) Ltd at the beginning of April 2001 to work as a Brain Injury Clinical Case Manager providing Assessment and Case Management Services to brain injured clients, their families and support workers.
I am an Advanced member of the British Association of Brain Injury Case Managers and have experience in providing Expert Witness Reports for the Courts, in the areas of Care and Case Management, and giving evidence in civil, criminal and criminal injury compensation cases.