Cases and Actions defined

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Within the 1024 system, the concepts of "Cases" and "Actions" are inter-related activities which capture your organisation's involvement with a Client (that is, an identity which has an identity type of 'Client'). Note therefore that Cases and Actions do not apply to Identities which are not Clients. Education sessions run for Identities which are Service Providers are recorded in a similar manner to Cases for Clients, but strictly speaking, are not Cases.

Every time an advocate does something which is related to a client's needs (for example, making a phone call), this is an "Action".

The definition of a Case is a rather more elusive, and will depend largely upon the definition your organisation wishes to apply. In short, though, a Case is a group of Actions for a Client. However, what criteria determine which Actions fall into which specific Cases will depend upon your organisation's approach to cases (and may also be determined by funding rules).

For example, if a person (who has not been a client in the past) is placed on a Mental Health Act Continuing Care Order, and contacts your organisation for assistance with the Mental Health Tribunal 28-day review of the order, you would probably have a number of Actions you would record against this Case:

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Taking the initial phone call, establishing the nature of the request, creating the Identity, Case, and first Action record, and arranging a visit time;

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Visiting the client on the ward to discuss their concerns;

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Possible contact with the Official Visitors Scheme, to follow up on a complaint made by your client;

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Contacting the MHT to advise you will be representing the client;

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Attending the 28-day Review hearing; and

·

Debriefing with the client.

Depending upon the outcome of the hearing, the above group of Actions may constitute a logically constructed Case, with a start and end point. That is, you would have one Case on record for the Client, which involved multiple Actions.

However, consider that the Tribunal confirms the order and your Client remains hospitalised, and you receive contact from the client 2 weeks later, saying that they've lodged a complaint with the Official Visitors Scheme and want you to follow it up. Depending upon any funding rules that apply to your organisation, the way your organisation wants to record its cases, and the nature of the complaint (and potentially the nature of your client's ongoing use of your organisation's service), it would arguably be valid to create a new case for this client, but could also arguably be seen as more actions required for the existing case. Such distinctions should be established within your organisation and made a point of training for your advocates, to ensure a maximum of consistency (and therefore usefulness) of your data.

Regardless of these organisation-specific definitions, though, the basic definition still applies: a Case is a group of Actions for a Client.