Today Was Just Hard and Heartbreaking Work

I oft look back at the first time I stepped in to act as an advocate for an injured worker. I was 1000% certain that someone would call me out for the total lack of experience I had in the role of injured worker advocate, I felt nauseous and my knees were not willing to work properly so walking was difficult. The challenge was to attend a case conference with an injured worker ask all the right questions and not walk out without an agreement in place. 

In my pre-injury life I had worked within the community as an outreach social worker, setting supports in place, getting the required equipment, arranging transport, arranging child care and supplying all manner of different things. Hence; I knew that as long as my voice didn’t falter and I could parrot back to the case manager the same style of language that I could deliver the required outcome.

The major stumbling block was that I was still on workers compensation payments myself and the claims agent I was going to a meeting at was also my workers compensation claims management provider. However; another person was reliant on my ability and my judgement.  As the saying goes “in for a penny (in for a pound)” I had committed myself to see this meeting through to the end, there was no other advocate plus I understood the real life challenges the injured worker was facing.

After the meeting which went exceedingly well, I went for a coffee in order to reflect on the meeting and to gather my thoughts. It was nerve wracking to say the least, I had written scant notes and my writing was still not all that good as I was still in the process of learning how to write with my non dominant hand. 

I have lost count over the years of how many such meetings I have attended and how many Court cases I have sat through. Some went really well; some went terribly wrong some were over before they started and others dragged on for years.

All of it comes down to belief in what I am feeling and sheer determination to protect and help the injured worker community regardless of the impost on myself. The only times I truly regret an outcome are the times that I failed to heed the gut-instinct warnings: that niggling something that says not all is good. The hardest of them is when I was overly tired and felt something was not right, but let the feeling slip when the person I was talking with said he would catch up with me later. Before the “later” arrived, this man ended his own life, I live with the regret of not sitting and probing and asking all the questions that instinct told me to ask.

And so to today; today I had to make another judgment call for another man who was demonstrating all the classic signs of hopelessness. His medical team are doing everything possible to be in place for him; my gut instinct was saying do more, find a way forward, push the red tape to one side or cut it to a million pieces do whatever it takes to keep solid ground under his feet. 

Whilst I am not able to go into the details it is suffice to say that the actions I took will most likely place this man in hospital for his own safety. I know that he is not going to be happy with me because I am simply unable to provide the outcome that he came to ask me for.

As harsh as this may sound, I would much rather that he be angry with me and be in hospital than have not done something and then be attending a funeral. 

The role of an advocate is not easy, it is a fly by the seat of your pants at times roller coaster ride. The balancing of wants needs and outcomes is never easy, sometimes I have to admit that I am human and I get things wrong. In this instance I am happy to be proven wrong than to risk being proven right but not acted in the best interest of another person. 

Yours in service
Rosemary

www.craigstable.net.au
rosemary@craigstable.net.au
SKYPE Rosemary2412
October 10^th  2019