2019 • Making Families Count

“Misguided and Dangerous”

5 September 202319 July 2019 by Rosi Reed

It was announced on Wednesday 17 July that the NHS has decided to stop funding the automatic investigation of all killings by mental health patients. This announcement took many people totally by surprise, and in the case of families bereaved by mental health homicide, shock and horror. Making Families Count member and founder of the influential charity Hundred Families, Julian Hendy is quoted in the Guardian article which blew the lid on this astounding decision by NHS England. You can read the article in full here: Cuts to study of killings by mental health patients ‘put people at risk’ In response …

Getting to know Making Families Count – Jan Sunman

5 September 202317 July 2019 by Jan Sunman

This is the third of a series of blogs in which the members of Making Families Count write about their personal journey and why working with MFC means so much to them. This blog features MFC Director Jan Sunman. I became involved with Making Families Count, after the death of Connor Sparrowhawk who died whilst in the care of Southern Health Foundation Trust. I was invited to join the team by Julie Kerry, (then lead investigator at NHS England South for the Thames Valley area). Julie brought together a group of families with experiences of having lost loved ones and …

Making an impression at the Patient Safety Congress

3 August 202311 July 2019 by Rosi Reed

This time last week I was at the Patient Safety Congress in Manchester. I had an excellent time and met so many interesting and impressive people. It was also an opportunity to do a lot of networking (which is always so valuable) and meet up with people I’ve worked with in the past and now seldom see. It was an impressive event. Really well run, really well organised and incredibly well attended. There were over 1000 participants and almost 450 delegates, presenters and speakers. Over 2 days I went to a hugely varied number of presentations and talks and while some of …

Getting to know Making Families Count – Rosi Reed

3 August 202326 June 2019 by Rosi Reed

This is the second of a series of blogs in which the members of Making Families Count write about their personal journey and why working with MFC means so much to them. ROSI REED (Administrator – Making Families Count) I’m proud of working for Making Families Count but the price I’ve paid to do this work was very, very high. Looking back to my early life it would seem to be unlikely that I’d end up working with a company like MFC. I left school at 16 with no qualifications, no ambitions and no plans. Not long after I had …

Getting to know Making Families Count – Stephen Habgood

5 September 202313 June 2019 by Stephen Habgood

This is the first of a series of blogs in which the members of Making Families Count write about what drew them into the work they do and how they feel about it. It’s another way of getting to know the individual members of MFC and gaining a better understanding of our work. STEPHEN HABGOOD (Director of Making Families Count) “Soon after I was appointed as Chair of PAPYRUS Prevention of Young Suicide in 2010 I put together a newsletter article in which I raised my concern about the way the Trust investigated my son’s suicide. As a former prison service …

Staff inspired to “make families count” after training to improve practice and engagement

3 August 202322 May 2019 by Rosi Reed

On 13 May 2019 the first of two “Making Families Count” training events was held by Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) to help staff work more compassionately and effectively with families whose loved ones have died or been seriously hurt while under the Trust’s care. Getting family engagement right, from the beginning, is key to ensuring NHS organisations learn from their mistakes, making sure they are never repeated, and save grieving families and staff from going through the ordeal of court action. The day also included lively group discussions, and tips and suggestions on what to do and …