Don Young - MSc RGN RNMH FCIPD - Owner of Brain Injury Services Ltd

Don Young, who is the owner and Managing Director of Brain Injury Services Ltd, provides Clinical Case Management to individuals with serious brain injury, Immediate Needs Assessments and acts as an Expert Witness in cases of clinical litigation or personal injury. Don is also a Trustee and Governor of a Special Needs School and was Case Manger of the year at the 2007 ‘Rehabilitation First Awards’ and was a Finalist in the 2009 CMSUK Case Manager of The Year Awards.

Don is a Registered General Nurse and a Registered Nurse for people with Learning Disabilities; Don also holds a Masters Degree in Public Sector Management and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. He is an Advanced Member of the British Association of Brain Injury Case Managers and member of Case Management Society UK (CMSUK)

His professional nursing career has spanned 40 years working in the Public and Independent Health and Care sectors.

In the National Health Service he held positions up to the level of Chief Nursing Officer to a District Health Authority and Director of Nursing at a large District General Hospital. His work entailed providing high quality nursing care through the process of detailed assessments of individual nursing care needs and the design and implementation of nursing care plans. Don was also the first National Director of Personnel for the NSPCC.

As Chief Nursing Officer his responsibilities included the provision of nursing advice to the Health Authority Chairman and members, writing, implementing and monitoring nursing care policies, procedures and nursing care standards. He supervised the work of nurses in all branches of the profession both in hospital and community settings and was responsible for the Registration of Private Nursing Homes. In addition he was responsible for statutory and non-statutory professional nurse training within the Authority.

As a consultant working independently he supported NHS hospitals and independent nursing/care home operators in implementing quality assurance systems and training staff in their application. He assisted nursing/care home operators in developing care planning and policy and procedure implementation and undertook critical incident investigations following major incidents, alleged ill treatment, and professional misconduct and nursing care neglect. He assisted homes in business development and led a number into achieving the National ‘Investor in People Award.’

Don became particularly interested in the needs of people with a serious brain injury after setting up a residential, rehabilitation service in Kent in 1995. This included him establishing operational and care policies, assessment material, risk management plans and care planning recording systems for use in the day-to-day running of the unit.

Present case management services to our 26 brain injured clients are provided in Sussex, Surrey, Essex, Hampshire, London and Kent, Don carrying a personal caseload in order to maintain his clinical expertise. He has undertaken Expert Witness reporting for both Claimant and Defendant since establishing the original business in January 1999. He has undertaken the Bond Solon Expert Witness training.

Kathryn Howard – Case Manager

Kathryn has worked in the field of Brain Injury for the past nine years initially working for Priory Health Care in Sussex in an Acquired Brain Injury residential unit for adults from 2001-2004. In October 2004, she began working for the Regard Partnership in Surrey. She was involved in opening the Acquired Brain Injury service for the company

For the 3 years immediately before joining Brain Injury Services Kathryn played a pivotal role in the management of a 17 bed supported living unit run with a domiciliary care team. Her role included the conducting, organising and writing reports for multidisciplinary client reviews. Along with strategies implemented by professionals, Katherine is adept at leading an interdisciplinary team of professional and support staff. Kathryn is proficient at risk assessment; support planning and completing client support needs assessments

In her spare time, Kathryn is a member of United Kingdom Acquired Brain Injury Forum, Surrey Acquired Brain Injury Network and The Silver Lining Charity. She has worked with the charity helping UK brain injured clients since 2007.

Kathryn holds a Diploma in Sports Therapy (Distinction). She is currently studying for her Degree in Social Science at Brighton University and is an Associate Member of Case Management Society UK.

Julie Fox – Assistant Case Manager

Julie has worked in the field of rehabilitation in a variety of residential and community settings for 8 years,

Her experience has included working with Domestic Violence as a Development Manager, supporting and assisting women and children to rebuild their lives in another part of the country, supporting clients in a secure Mental Health unit and individuals at home with Disassociation Identity Disorder.

Julie has also worked voluntarily as a Counsellor for Anxiety Disorders which can range from a casual chat aimed at getting symptoms into perspective, to a structured programme of recovery assistance, Pregnancy Crisis Counsellor and Post Abortion Counsellor reaching out to women and their partners and sometimes their parents in a crisis because of an unplanned pregnancy or distress following an abortion.

Julie’s work with brain injured clients has included her holding Team Leader positions with Brain Injury Service’s clients in East Sussex. Her role now as Assistant Case Manager enables her valuable experience to be used in supporting and mentoring other Team Leaders working with clients of Brain Injury Services in other geographical settings.

Sarah Davies – Assistant Case Manager

Sarah has worked in varied pastoral and assessment roles for over 15 years in colleges, adult education and employment settings working with disenfranchised young people and adults, assisting them to access employment and training opportunities through supported key working.

Sarah’s experience also extends into the residential supported housing environment with specialist knowledge of domestic abuse and parent and family support. She has undertaken a wide variety of training including risk and needs assessment; support planning, child protection, conflict management and substance mis-use. Sarah is currently completing her training as a humanistic integrative counselor.

Jenny Cato - Payroll Manager

My payroll experience extends over 6 years in the healthcare industry and within a payroll bureau. My work with Don has extended this experience and allows a pleasant rapport to be gained with clients and their staff and not being a large organisation provides for a personal, responsive service to be provided.

Delia Elliman - Associate Case Manager

Delia’s professional background is in Social Work with 10 years’ post-qualifying experience in a range of voluntary, statutory and independent settings. She has worked with adults with learning disabilities and those with physical disabilities and mental health problems. Delia has been a brain injury case manager since July 2004 on first joining Don Young and is registered with the General Social Care Council and an Advanced Member of the British Association of Brain Injury Case Managers.

Jenny Atkinson, BA DipCOT - Associate Case Manager

Jenny qualified as a state registered occupational therapist in 1987. She has worked extensively in the National Health Service in the areas of general medicine, mental health, pain management, oncology, paediatrics and more specifically goal-focussed rehabilitation in the inpatient and community setting.

Jenny has specialised in community neurological rehabilitation but has also worked with patients in persistent vegetative state using the SMART assessment. Jenny has undertaken extensive training and supervision of staff during her OT career. She has completed the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS). Jenny has worked as a case manager, dealing mainly with complex cases but also vocational cases, and as a care expert since 2003. She is an associate member of BABICM and has spent two years on the committee and is a member of Case Management Society of UK (CMSUK).

Lucy Parkin - Associate Case Manager

Lucy qualified as an Occupational Therapist from the Dorset House School of Occupational Therapy in 1991. Since then she has had a wide variety of clinical positions including acute and general medicine, orthopaedics and social services. A spell working on the acute stroke team at Kings College Hospital London, led Lucy to deciding to specialise in treating clients with brain injury, going on to work with in-patient rehabilitation and community teams both in the public and private sectors. Lucy became a Case Manager in 2000.

Lucy is registered with the Health Professions Council and is a member of the British Association of Occupational Therapists.