Care managers
When you join Birmingham OwnHealth® you will be contacted regularly by an assigned Care Manager, a fully qualified and experienced health professional who works for NHS Direct and is much more than just a voice on the phone.
Each Care Manager works with about 200 members, forming lasting one to one relationships with their members, getting to know you and your condition and working closely with other healthcare professionals to ensure that you get the best and most personal care possible.
They will be in regular contact from the moment you join, calling at times which are arranged to be most convenient for you. Alternatively, you can contact a Care Manager whenever you need advice or encouragement but feel that a trip to your GP isn’t necessary.
It is the job of our Care Managers to make sure that members:
- know exactly how and where to get help, whenever they need it
- learn as much as possible about their condition and are able to set and evaluate their own treatment goals
- take the correct medicines in the right way
- make the most of recommended tests and services
- act quickly and efficiently to keep their condition under control
- make appropriate and realistic lifestyle changes to reduce health risks
- know how best to build on their individual strengths to prevent and overcome any obstacles
- receive appropriate follow-up care from specialists
What is a Care Manager?
Who are the Care Managers?
They are a group of experienced and trained health professionals with skills, knowledge and experience in helping people with long term conditions.
What do they do?
They work in a call centre using supportive computer software. They make regular telephone contacts with their members. Once you have joined you can call your own or any of the Care Managers directly.
How do they help people with long term conditions?
By engaging each person in their own health and helping them to make positive changes to individual lifestyles. The emphasis is in helping you to manage your own condition and over time monitor the progress achieved.
Is there any obligation from me?
No. You do not have to join and you can leave the programme when you choose. Your personal Care Manager may decide with you that you are ready for graduation, when you become a competent self-carer, or step you down to the less-intensive monitor level of support. It will require some of your time to talk over the telephone about once every two to four weeks for around half an hour. The service is free.
