Bush & Co shortlisted in three categories in the PI Awards 2021
For the past two years, Bush & Co has been crowned the winner of the ‘Supporting the Industry’ award at the annual PI Awards and this year we’re over the moon to be finalists in three categories:
Medico-legal Provider of the Year
Our nomination focused on our class action expertise and in the past we have been trusted to take on cases involving sensory deficit, incontinence issues, limb loss, dental issues and safeguarding.
Our nomination focused on our pride at being chosen following a tender process to support The Thalidomide Trust post-class action, to continue their access to funding.
The Trust reached out to appoint a care expert contractor to follow standard protocol for estimating future care needs of those affected and our MDT approach looked at nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy needs and utilised our expertise in accommodation, speech and language therapy, case management and psychology to assess future care needs of the Thalidomide Trust’s beneficiaries.
Our finding established the future health needs of Thalidomide injured people and highlighted that those needs are both multi-faceted and extensive. We also identified a number of beneficiaries who had unmet needs in areas such as care, continence and occupational therapy.
The final report outlined in detail the care and support Thalidomide Trust beneficiaries rightfully deserved for the remainder of their life.
It did more than that though. The report was sent to UK Government to review with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak saying:
“Thalidomide survivors and their families face daily challenges as a result of the drug – whilst we can’t change what happened, we can do everything possible to make their lives easier.
“That’s why I feel it is our duty to make this lifetime commitment to them, so they have the financial security they need, and can access support.”
Rehab Provider of the Year
Our nomination demonstrated our largest period of growth over the past two years, even with a pandemic thrown in to the mix.
We have a reputation built on our consistency in delivering client centred care; ensuring clients are accessing the most beneficial rehabilitation options and every stage of their recovery.
Excellence to us means listening to the needs of clients and customers and building and delivering services that promote positive, proactive outcomes for all. We work within and utilise the latest clinical guidance and keep abreast of developments within the NHS so we complement therapies and advice given.
Healthcare and rehabilitation is not a static environment and so we do not stand still. We thrive on service development and implementation. A focus for us is to look at services that compliment case management; supporting clients to avoid barriers to rehabilitation.
That’s why our nomination focused on our behaviour service; an example of our holistic approach to client rehabilitation.
We are all too aware that it’s not always a physical injury that needs to be addressed. The trauma, loss and grief around the accident can be as, if not more, debilitating that the physical injuries sustained.
Our behaviour team are all exceptional therapists who work alongside the case manager to unpick and work to manage some of the behaviours and emotions that may be preventing the client from being able to fully focus or engage on their rehabilitation.
At Bush & Co, we believe that behaviour displayed by a person that is difficult for us to manage is only an attempt by them to get their needs met and is being presented in a way that is not yet understood. Following trauma or catastrophic injury, many clients struggle to adjust, and loss and adjustment is a key barrier to rehabilitation in these instances.
The service allows the behaviour therapist to support families, who are just as impacted as the client, to prevent family breakdowns and allow them to work to their new normal.
Marketing Campaign of the Year
The pandemic made us change the way we build and maintain relationships for the better!
As a brand leader in case management and expert witness services in the catastrophic injury sector, for the past 35 years we have worked with claimant and defendant solicitors and insurers to provide services to support clients following life changing injuries.
Historically our marketing strategy was centred around networking and building new relationships across the sector.
- We had significant presence at industry conferences and exhibitions.
- We attended, sponsored and delivered at number of networking events, dinners and charity fundraisers.
- We also maintained a busy schedule of customer face-to-face meetings.
This approach was successful, Bush & Co are widely recognised, the business has continued to grow year-on-year and we have hundreds of strong, longstanding relationships with firms.
This all changed when the pandemic hit.
All of those events quickly got wiped from our calendar and therefore the sales and marketing team had to adapt a huge part of the 2020 plan. Our business development team switched their customer interactions to Zoom, Microsoft Teams and phone calls.
These calls gave us great insight into how our customers were feeling and at that point, our marketing as we knew it paused and we needed to try something new.
Conversations became more personal and touched on how people were coping or not, how work had merged into home lives and the many things people were having to juggle.
Our focus was no longer on pushing our services but instead reassuring customers, keeping in touch and showing we cared. As the world seemed to be reliant on digital marketing during the pandemic we decided to do something different!
We introduced ‘Happy Post’ our largest ever mail-out marketing campaign, intended to inspire and uplift our loyal customers.
As our marketing plan pivoted, we made a commitment to use our marketing spend to support others facing challenges in society where possible. Supporting black owned businesses following the Black Lives Matter movement, along with small independent businesses helping those who are struggling due to the impact of Covid.
‘Calm and connected’, ‘We’re flipping great’, ‘A cosy night in with Bush & Co’ and ‘We have the best ingredients’ became wellbeing packages and a huge talking point for people and we couldn’t be prouder of continuing this approach post-pandemic to keep on caring!
The Personal Injury Awards 2021 will take place on 23 November 2021 at New Dock Hall in Leeds