Case Background

Mr. B was performing his normal work duties as a Bus Driver when a car collided head on with the bus. Both the driver and the passenger of the car died.

Mr. B sustained minor cuts and bruising, but experienced significant psychological trauma relating to the accident, returning to driving, anxiety and anger. The effects of the trauma also meant that Mr. B resigned from his job as a Bus Driver.

Medicess Involvement

Overview:

1. Telephone triage
2. Medical notes obtained
3. Private treatment deployment (approved by treating parties)
4. Return-to-work coordination

Immediately upon notification, all parties were contacted for collaborative engagement with the rehabilitation process. Medicess established an in-house multi-disciplinary team based on the clinical requirements of Mr. B, consisting of a Medicess Doctor, Psychologist and an Employment Consultant.

The Triage was performed by our in-house Psychologist. It was identified that Mr. B was experiencing flashbacks, intrusive thoughts and avoided activities that triggered memories of the accident, such as returning to work.

Following the telephone triage, it was established that a face-to-face physical examination was not required. The patient medical notes were reviewed and our Psychologist triggered an immediate private referral to a Clinical Psychologist after immediate liaison with the treating GP.

The Medicess multi-disciplinary team worked collaboratively with the GP, the private Psychologist, employment services, Solicitor and Insurer to coordinate treatment, recovery and return-to-work.

Medicess Psychologist

The Medicess in-house Psychologist liaised closely with the treating Clinical Psychologist to guide and coordinate treatment. 12 sessions of treatment consisting of trauma focussed cognitive behavioural therapy and eye movement desensitisation reprocessing were provided. To ensure that the treatment objectives of gradual re-exposure to the workplace were optimised, the Medicess in-house Psychologist coordinated a graded programme of instruction with a driving instructor.

Medicess Doctor

Our Medicess Doctor provided guidance to the multidisciplinary team in terms of the overall management and guidance in consideration of the psychological condition, its management, the medication being prescribed and DVLA guidelines.

The Medicess Doctor approved the return-to-work and gained agreement of the treating GP.

Medicess Employment Consultant

Working alongside the treating professionals our Employment Consultant assisted with job sourcing and counselling. Mr. B initially commenced employment driving smaller buses. Within this same employment, Mr. B progressed to driving the larger buses again at the recommendation of the treating team.

Benefits of our involvement

The provision of Psychological treatment was significantly delayed on the NHS. Medicess was able to expedite the treatment and coordinated this with vocational objectives.

The team approach ensured that those with the appropriate clinicians addressed the respective multi-disciplinary needs of Mr. B.

The tactical deployment of our modular services meant that treatment was expedited rapidly and also there were no costly obligations for a Physical Examination that was not clinically indicated.