‘No Man’s Land’ was the theme for this year’s Brain Injury Social Work Group (BISWG) conference where almost 100 delegates gathered at King’s College Hospital in London, a centre of excellence in neurorehabilitation.
Spaces between services and systems and the challenges caused by those gaps came under the spotlight at the conference, which also saw industry experts connect and collaborate with the shared aim of working towards solutions to improve the lives of people with an acquired brain injury.
The conference, opened by Chair of BISWG, Caroline Bald, saw a packed full-day programme of outstanding voices across the board from hospital to home, child to adult services and psychiatry to legal advocacy.
The opening panel saw three members of the multi-disciplinary team at the Frank Cooksey Unit discuss navigating the gaps between hospital and home. Basirah Oloko, Senior Social Worker, Neurosciences, was joined by Dr Gisele Lafeuillee, a Consultant in Rehabilitation Medicine and Dr Suzanne Balfour-Peers, a Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist. They highlighted the story of one patient and described his journey from arrival on the ward to discharge. The impact of an acquired brain injury on the wider family was very much evident from their discussion and their work includes supporting family members as well as the patient. The need to start planning for discharge early was highlighted if the discharge is to be as successful as possible with a clear plan in place for leaving rehabilitation.
Understanding capacity challenges was the focus of Dr David Okai’s session. The Consultant Neuropsychiatrist laid out the purpose and scope of the Mental Capacity Act and spoke of the challenges in assessing capacity. Again, real-life case studies were used to show the potential pitfalls and highlight pertinent questions to aid assessments.
Dr Aly Norman, Associate Professor at the University of Plymouth and co-chair of Anchorpoint, updated delegates on the Heads Together project, a research collaboration funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The project is the first UK brain injury social work training programme. A second NIHR application has been submitted for evaluation work to build on this progress and extend training materials into a comprehensive package for all social workers. She also highlighted the launch of the NIHR Acquired Brain Injury Social Care Incubator in July, with its first workshop scheduled for November following the UK Acquired Brain Injury Forum Summit.
The very powerful voices of lived-experience took centre stage in the session led by Dr David McCormick, Consultant Paediatrician in Neurorehabilitation at King’s College Hospital and Miranda Taylor, Senior Social Worker in Paediatric Neurology. They told the story of Tim*, who was at the conference with his Mum, Clare*. Tim was hit by a car and suffered a traumatic brain injury which saw him spend 11 weeks in neurorehabilitation. They documented his journey to discharge before Clare addressed delegates to share her experience. She thanked the whole team for their support and also talked about the challenges faced by many families, particularly after discharge with the need to ‘fight’ for support, a theme which arises from families time and again. (*Not real names). The presentation highlighted NICE figures which show that every year, 1.4 million people attend emergency departments in England and Wales with a recent head injury – between 33% and 50% of these are children aged under 15 years.
Wendy Irons, Brain Injury Case Manager at Head First, delivered an informative session looking at the way independent case managers can facilitate effective collaboration between private and statutory services. One key message was ‘no question is stupid if it is going to help your client’ – learning and working together benefits everyone.
The conference drew to a close with a very powerful session led by Dr Mark Holloway, an expert witness and case manager at Head First and Rob Antrobus, a negligence specialist at Enable Law. Dr Holloway spoke of the overwhelming impact of an acquired brain injury on the patient, their family and also professionals who want to be able to make things better. Rob Antrobus gave an emotional, personal testimony about his wife who suffered a stroke in 2020. He spoke of the impact on the whole family and the importance of professionals seeing the patient and family as humans. ‘It is not a form, it is a family’ he stressed.
Addressing the audience, BISWG Chair and Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Essex, Caroline Bald, reiterated the need for that thoughtful and personal approach. She said: “Our words and actions are remembered so we need to work together and remember that ‘it is not a form, it is a family’.”
She added: “This year’s conference built on the success of our event in Sheffield last year. It was a real opportunity for delegates to talk to each other and to the speakers from across such broad disciplines. It allowed space to learn, reflect and connect. These two-way conversations are crucial as we work together to improve the lives of people with an acquired brain injury and ensure no-one falls into a ‘no man’s land’ between services.”
The conference was sponsored by Irwin Mitchell Solicitors and delegates were able to chat to exhibitors from a range of specialists including Cygnet Health Care, Richardson Care, Exemplar, Specialist Home Care Group and Headway East London.
You can find out more about The Brain Injury Social Work Group at www.biswg.co.uk
