Injury Management & Return-to-Work Programs · icare & Lifetime Care
Injury Management & Return-to-Work Programs for icare & Lifetime Care
icare runs several NSW schemes. It insures many workers compensation claims as the Nominal Insurer, and it administers Lifetime Care & Support for people with severe injuries from a workplace or a motor accident. Nexus Rehab coordinates the return-to-work and workplace side of these claims across NSW, metropolitan and regional, working alongside the scheme's coordinator and the person's own treating team — we coordinate the return to work; we do not provide the treatment or care.
Two icare pathways: workers insurance and Lifetime Care
The two pathways fund things differently, so a referral is set up differently. Under icare workers insurance, an injured worker's claim runs on the workers compensation scheme, with a nominated treating doctor, a certificate of capacity and a return-to-work plan. Under Lifetime Care & Support, a person with a severe injury from work or a motor accident receives funding for reasonable and necessary treatment, rehabilitation and care over the long term, regardless of who was at fault. Nexus works in either pathway and sets up the return-to-work approach according to which one is funding the referral.
Alongside the scheme coordinator
Lifetime Care participants usually have a scheme coordinator who oversees their supports across treatment, rehabilitation and care. Nexus takes the workplace and vocational part of that picture and keeps in step with the coordinator and the treating team, so nothing is duplicated and nothing falls between them. We complete workplace assessments, plan suitable duties, and report progress to the coordinator and icare. Medical treatment and personal care stay with the participant's clinicians and providers — Nexus coordinates the return to work, not the care itself.
A longer horizon for return to work
Return to work after a severe injury is gradual and can span a long period, sometimes with modified roles or reduced hours that change over time. Nexus plans realistic, staged suitable duties and reviews them as capacity changes, without rushing the return. Where a return to the pre-injury role is not realistic, the plan sets out alternative work options and the steps toward them. To start, make a referral and we will confirm the scope with the coordinator or icare before any services begin.