CCET
INSPIRING, DEVELOPING & INCORPORATING EMPATHY, EMOTIONAL AWARENESS, COMPASSION & WELL-BEING
CARE & COMPASSION EMPATHY TRAINING
Expert-Led Training & Consultancy on the Duty of Candour & PSIRF
For health and social care organisations responsible for implementing the Duty of Candour, PSIRF and systems thinking as well as the family and staff engagement and involvement. C&C Empathy Training Ltd founder Carolyn Cleveland, partners with Peter Walsh former CEO of Action Against Medical Accidents (AvMA) and Dr Dawn Benson a sociologist who specialises in safety investigation within health, social care, and education, enabling C&C Empathy Training to provide a comprehensive portfolio of training and consultancy to meet your needs.
Carolyn Cleveland founder of C&C Empathy Training Ltd and over a decade of working with healthcare organisations on patient safety and communication. She is known for her immersive and thought provoking Empathy Navigation Pathway training programmes including - A Journey Through Complaints and Incidents Using Empathy - which create the opportunity for deep exploration of the emotional complexities of healthcare incidents psychological safety, emotional awareness and genuinely 'felt' apologies and communication.
Peter Walsh is well known for his extensive work on the Duty of Candour and contributions to the development of this, PSIRF, Being Open Principles and the Harmed Patient Pathway, creates the opportunity to really explore the what must be done from a regulatory perspective, but in a human, realistic way that embodies the very essence of why such frameworks exist.
Dr Dawn Benson is a sociologist who specialises in safety investigation within health, social care, and education.
She spent almost 20 years as an academic researching and teaching at the universities of Northumbria, Aberdeen, and Oxford. She has worked as a National Investigator at the Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) where she was previously seconded to establish the education function and developed the concept of Investigation Science. Her experience and approach is influenced by both professional experience and lived experience.
Whether you're looking for a standalone training session, a package of sessions, a deeper focus on specific challenges such as compassionate leadership or staff resilience, or ongoing consultancy and mentoring to drive long-term cultural change, we’re here to help. Our approach integrates regulatory requirements and emotional intelligence, tailored to your goals, aligning policies with people's felt experience. Get in touch to explore how we can work together.
EXAMPLE STANDALONE 1 DAY COURSE
Duty of Candour and PSIRF:
A practical guide to implementation using empathy,
emotional intelligence and compassion
National Framework Approved Training Programme
Delivered in person or virtually by Peter Walsh and Carolyn Cleveland
This thought provoking session will provide participants with an in-depth knowledge of the history of the Duty of Candour including Robbie's Law. It focusses on what needs to be done to not only comply with the duty of candour, integrating the new Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), but go beyond compliance to compassionately engage with patients, families and staff.
Our Duty of Candour and PSIRF using emotional intelligence course will not only help your organisation demonstrate to the CQC that it is compliant, but even more importantly will give the individual staff in the organisation the knowledge, understanding, emotional awareness and confidence to implement well and with empathy.
It will clarify ‘grey areas’ and provide guidance on dealing with difficult situations which may arise. It will provide participants with an understanding of good practice in implementing the duty and new framework, and doing so in a meaningful way with empathy and compassion. Thus providing the opportunity to more comprehensively understand some of the difficult emotions often experienced in patient safety incidents i patients, loved ones and staff. Delegates will be able to develop their emotional awareness alongside the vital aspects of complying with the duty of candour and PSIRF to provided authentic and meaningful training to those attending. Therefore supporting handling what are difficult conversations in an optimum way.
The principles of being open and honest, compassionately engaging and involving patients, their families and staff, when harm occurs in health or social care is a fundamental part of being a health or social care professional (for whom an individual duty of candour exists) and organisations providing health or social care. Such honesty, empathy, compassion and involvement, is what most people want more than anything else when things go wrong and being open, honest and compassionate, can help prevent complaints and claims and prevent further avoidable psychological harm or second harm.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
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Why the duty of candour and PSIRF is so important for patients, staff and organisations - the history and Robbie's Law
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What is needed to comply with the duty and new framework, with focus on compassionate engagement.
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Consider a real-life incident through the lens of empathy, emotional intelligence and compassion, applying the Empathy Navigation Pathway® to understand its role in fulfilling Duty of Candour obligations.
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Use emotional intelligence to understand the difficult emotions experienced by patients/those closest to them and staff following patient safety incidents and the importance of well-being.
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Clarifying and work through ‘grey areas’, common difficulties and what people get most wrong.
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Implications for patient safety and complaints investigations
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How Duty of Candour and PSIRF work alongside other policies and procedures including complaints; litigation; Martha’s Rule and the soon to be introduced “Hillsborough Law”.
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How the new “Harmed Patient Pathway” can further help you get it right
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Making a meaningful apology, and why demonstrating genuine acknowledgement of the impact and showing you care is as important as saying ‘sorry’.
Deep dive into the real lived experience of a complaint and the emotional complexities using empathy.
Understanding the impact of incivility and emotional awareness for a respectful, supportive environment.
Move beyond a simple toolkit to recognise and develop resilience through deeper development of outlook and personal mastery
The scope of harm, bridging divides, and accountability in a just, learning and supportive environment.
Develop empathy-driven leadership to foster trust, psychological safety, and more positive work environment and empathic teams.
Enhance emotional awareness and communication for stronger, more compassionate connections.
Patient Safety Incidents
Bridge the gap between policy and practice in engaging with harmed patients and loved ones.
Consultancy - Policies
Reviewing policies, procedures and written materials around duty of candour/PSIRF, making recommendations.
PSIRF and Other Processes
Helping staff understand and implement PSIRF guidance along with other guidance and processes
Consultancy - Responses
Providing advice on the handling of individual cases/reviewing a number of individual cases and providing a report
Authentic Apologies
Navigate the complexities of authentic apologies. Saying sorry with felt meaning
Consultancy - Insight
Measuring what matters - Psychological Contracts: How staff feel, why it matters, and how to create meaningful change
Articles by Peter Walsh and Carolyn Cleveland
