Psychological Claims Management Pathway

Hunter New England Local Health District

Winner — James Angelou (QBE), NSW Health Secretary Elizabeth Koff, Gemma Murphy (QBE), Health Minister Brad Hazzard, Nick Filippou (QBE), Natalie Coake, Andrew Folwell, Amanda Brown, Vanessa Breckenridge, Kim Ford, Frances Johnson, Hayley Robb and Patricia Robertson, Carmen Rechbauer (HealthShare NSW Chief Executive), Margot Mains (Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD Chief Executive)

The Psychological Claims Management Pathway is designed to improve earlier return to work outcomes for workers who sustain a psychological injury in the workplace, in turn improving financial impacts for the District. This process involves supporting workers with entitlements for up to a 12 week timeframe, to enable access to support while liability on the claim is being decided.

This is achieved through Early Stakeholder Intervention Calls (ESI calls), where stakeholders are educated around the benefits of recovery at work and their roles in the process. Subsequently, attendance at Nominated Treating Doctor Case Conferences (NTDCC) with the worker enables medical advice and understanding around ways to assist in supporting recovery at work. This is necessary to ensure a tailored plan is collaboratively developed.

The process has shown to demonstrate an improvement in return to work outcomes for individuals with a psychological injury while conserving the financial impact for the District.

Psychological Claims Management Pathway team