Healthcare specific training
For all NHS and private healthcare organisations wishing to incorporate empathy, emotional awareness, compassionate engagement and involvement as well as well-being in their practice.
Creating a just, fair, psychologically safe and learning culture.
Supporting requirements such as the:
Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF), Duty of candour, Complaints Standards Framework and
staff resilience and well-being

Do you need support engaging empathically and compassionately with families and loved one's post incidents (PSIRF)
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To compassionately engage and involve patients, loved ones and staff (PSIRF)?
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Prevent prolonged psychological harm (Duty of Candour)?
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Develop a deeper understanding of human-focused and ethical leadership?
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Or support civility and importantly, staff well-being and resilience?
These courses, worth between 4 and 7 CPD hours, are specifically created to address challenges faced by both staff, managers, patients, and loved ones when in vulnerable positions in the healthcare sector. Specifically aimed at all health and social care professionals looking to learn more about how further incorporating empathy, compassionate engagement and emotional awareness can not only improve the experience of patients and loved ones but go beyond compliance and have a positive impact on outcomes, staff well-being, meaningful involvement and patient safety.
Courses
A Journey Through Complaints & Incidents Using Empathy and Compassionate Engagement
Linking into PSIRF, Complaints Standards Framework and the Duty of Candour
Delivered face to face, virtually, or unique E-learning version (Anytime Anywhere Training)
IDEAL FOR:
All healthcare and social care professionals including executive teams, wishing to improve how they communicate in complaints and incidents and create a just fair and learning culture (Complaints Standards Framework), as well as recognising the importance of preventing prolonged psychological harm (Duty of Candour) and compassionate engagement (PSIRF) and achieve meaningful involvement, and resolutions to minimise harm. Particularly useful for complaints managers, PALS and patient experience teams, lead investigators and those involved in the implementation of PSIRF, Complaints Standards Framework, quality and improvement and the Duty of Candour.
WHY ATTEND:
The new national framework Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) places strong emphasis on 'Compassionate engagement and involvement of those affected by patient safety incidents' While the National Quality Board identified 8 key principles concerning bereaved families and carers in the National Guidance on Learning from Deaths guidelines, which Trust Boards are now accountable for ensuring compliance with. Part of this compliance is ensuring training for staff to be able to support bereaved parties Providers should review and, if necessary, enhance skills and training to support this agenda' (National Guidance on Learning from Deaths March '17)
'Investigation teams must be compromised of staff who have the skills to apply the Duty of Candour compassionately, and the skills to support individuals at a time of complex bereavement' CQC Learning Accountability and Candour.
The Complaints Standards Framework is in place to support "being a just, fair and learning organisation {...] With understanding of the emotional complexity around making a complaint and having a complaint made against you"
DESCRIPTION: This emotionally explorative one-day course is for healthcare professionals who wish to gain confidence and insight into handling complaints and incidents in an empathetic and compassionate way. They will improve how they approach emotive and difficult conversations with patients loved ones and the bereaved, learning how to recognise and gain vital 'emotional data' to support compassionate engagement and involvement inline with the training requirements highlighted in PSIRF, the Complaints Standards Framework and others. From the perspective of real life case study told with candour and honesty, along with the science compassionate empathy and psychology, delegates will develop confidence and knowledge to work with bereaved families and to positively improve how patients and loved ones experience their organisation, whilst looking after their own important well-being.
KEY LEARNING OUTCOMES:
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Understanding a thought-provoking journey through a complaint and incident, understanding 'emotional data', for true learning.
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Build confidence in compassionately engaging and involving bereaved and vulnerable people
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Identifying and understanding empathic and emotionally focused thinking to understand the emotional complexities and systems in complaints
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Understand how a lack of empathy and compassion has the potential to cause psychological harm, negatively impacting on being a just culture and preventing complying meaningfully with the new Patient Safety Incident Response Framework.
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Understanding what gets in the way and develop, manage and optimise reasoned empathy in complaints
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How to help achieve meaningful resolutions, optimum outcomes and reach a 'Safeguarded Personal Resolution' ® to be just, fair and a learn culture
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Understand yourself better to safeguard your own mental health and personal well-being.
"Carolyn led a session for a group of Senior Clinical Leaders at Northumbria Healthcare on Empathetic Leadership. The session was so powerful and engaging with an open and honest account of personal experience that deeply impacted the group. The various formats of delivery and the consistent patient story running throughout the day made this an extremely reflective session.
I was there to help facilitate the day and it was the first time I had had the opportunity to hear Carolyn’s session. As the Director of Patient Safety and lead for the implementation of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) I saw the direct correlation that this session had with the compassionate engagement and involvement element of PSIRF. Carolyn and I discussed this in great detail on the day, how with some very minor additions and reference to PSIRF this could become an accredited training programme for PSIRF, which Carolyn explained that her training focussed on complaints and incidents already does. I would highly recommend Carolyn’s training, not just in relation to PSIRF but as a standard for empathy and compassionate engagement for all healthcare staff, particularly those who are responsible for responding to incidents, complaints and claims." Rachel Carter, Director of Patient Safety, Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust
A Journey Through Leadership Using Empathy - linking to psychological safety and civility
IDEAL FOR: All those working in health or social care and wanting to improve their empathic and compassionate leadership to enhance their interactions skills and human connection skills with their workforce, nurture well-being and improve their own self care
“Studies comparing superb leaders with mediocre ones have found that the competencies that distinguish the best form the worst in human services have little or nothing to do with medical knowledge or technical skill and everything to do with social and emotional intelligence. Of course, medical knowledge matters for healthcare leaders – but it’s a given. What distinguishes leaders in medicine, goes far beyond that knowledge, into interpersonal skills like empathy, conflict resolutions and people development.”
Daniel Goldman.
'80 % of people who experience rudeness spend time thinking about that rudeness' - Civility Saves Lives. A study by Development Dimensions International found that of more than 15,000 leaders in 18 countries workers who master empathy make the most successful leaders. It cited empathy as the No. 1 skill of a great leader.
DESCRIPTION: This one-day course examines, in a unique, thought provoking and human way, the important role empathy and emotional awareness plays in inclusive leadership, staff well-being and productivity, and what erodes it. Delegates will develop understanding of the psychology of emotionally focused thinking and outcomes and learn essential skills to understand and implement effective relationship focused work, underpinned with empathy and emotional development.
KEY LEARNING OUTCOMES:
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Who are we? Understanding & developing the human connection
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How to identify and understand emotionally focused thinking and practice and people focused leadership
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Explore how a lack of empathy in one-on-one encounters has the potential to cause psychological harm, how to respond to others using empathy
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How to cultivate empathy and inclusive leadership- communicate at a deeper level
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Reinforce your existing empathy and gain the confidence to use your new skills to enhance the human connection and handle difficult conversations
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Understand reflexive leadership and develop skills for staff well- being and productivity. Explore the concept of Safeguarded Personal Communication (SPC®)
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Recognise how to manage empathy to prevent burn out and improve your own self care and staff retention and productivity
" Fantastic! I walk away with increased knowledge on empathy and how it affects us and those around us. Thought -provoking and emotive – in a good way!"
Senior clinician NHFT
A Journey Through Empathy and Emotional Awareness in Communication
IDEAL FOR: The course is ideal for all health and social care professionals, student nurses and junior doctors, advocacy staff, receptionists, social workers and all public facing professionals within health and social care that wish to understand more about empathy, how we communicate.
“...tuning in to another person does more than give us an understanding of their view – it tells us how best to communicate with that person: what matters most to them, their models of the world...” Daniel Goleman
'It’s easy for people to feel that they give up all control of their lives once they enter the health system....Losing control can make people feel helpless and hopeless, which isn’t good for boosting their chances of recovery from illness. But good communication can avoid these feelings – it can help people to see that they still have a say and are still in charge of their own lives.' Royal College of Nursing
DESCRIPTION: A one-day course to develop a deeper level of communication to approach difficult and sensitive conversations with patients, families, clients, and colleagues with empathy. Delegates will develop a psychological understanding of themselves and others to best communicate with compassion and confidence. For nursing, the training includes self-awareness for reflection to assist with the latest NMC revalidation requirements.
KEY LEARNING OUTCOMES:
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Develop understanding of a real-life healthcare communication example, exploring the human connection and the benefits to patient safety
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How to identify and understand empathically focused thinking, power imbalances and communicating with care
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How a lack of empathy and emotional awareness can impact negatively on patient experience and safety and cause psychological harm.
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Develop understanding of how empathy and emotional awareness underpins the 6C's
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How to manage empathy to prevent burn out and improve resilience
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Understand empathic reflexive practice and how to use these skills for staff well- being and productivity
" Very honest and relevant. Carolyn has a lovely way of explaining a difficult situation and feelings."
Health Support Worker, Derby and Burton University Hospital