Case Problem Solving at Ainscough Associates

Ainscough Associates is a team of experienced health professionals who work proactively to get things done for our clients. We each have our own individual clients but can draw on the resources of our multidisciplinary colleagues to help and advise should we ever have a problem.

Even before Covid and remote working, the Ainscough Associates team have operated with a remote workforce. So it’s always been important that we have processes in place to keep focused and continue to offer our clients the best services.

One particular process is in the form of a solution focused and reflective team supervision. It is used to help each other on any particular issue that we can’t resolve by ourselves and is about working as a team to reach positive solutions through objective perspectives. The meeting is held once, or perhaps twice, a month, or whenever an issue arises, and the forum is open for any of our team to use.

The tried-and-trusted method has five distinct stages:

1. Presenting: whoever the issue belongs to begins by describing the situation, the outcome they’d like to achieve, what areas they need help with and how they will know the team’s input has been useful. The whole team has a wide experience base: case managers, clinical operations manager, managing director, HR consultants and office admin. And all have a different perspective, which is invaluable.
2. Clarifying: next, any of the team can ask super-specific questions to help clarify the situation. This stage is simply about more fact finding. It’s very useful to look at the scenario as a whole but not always easy to do when immersed in it, so this stage helps to add information and facts.
3. Affirming: now the team understands the case, they share with the case-presenter the elements in the case they consider to have gone particularly well. An important factor when faced with any problem is to consider what went well and not just focus on the problem in hand.
4. Reflecting: the care-presenter effectively leaves the room, turning off their camera and muting their microphone. They can still hear the rest of team who then brainstorm, reflecting on the issues presented, discuss their thoughts and ideas and perhaps talk about what they would do. Because the presenter can still hear the discussion, they will have reactions to the ideas put forward and can quietly reflect on what is being discussed.
5. Closing: the final stage sees the case-presenter responding to comments from the previous step and considering those that might be most useful to take forward. This is a particularly useful exercise in reassurance that their own beliefs, ethics and decisions have been sound.

One of the main benefits to this structure is that it results in so many ideas, all of which are formed objectively in a methodical, non-emotive way, because the other team members are not involved in the case. The issues discussed can be relatively straightforward, process-related or bigger issues that the case-presenter can’t see beyond, but they are usually clinically-based.

We find this forum to be particularly useful when working remotely to get feedback on work as well as support from the rest of the team. Anyone who works alone knows the importance of positive feedback and constructive support.

If Ainscough Associates can help you with any aspect of case management, or if you have any questions about how we work, please don’t hesitate to contact us.