New appointment for Rosi Reed

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HSJ are delighted to invite Rosi Reed of Making Families Count to join the HSJ Patient Safety Congress 2024 Advisory Board.  The core focus of the Advisory Board is to work with the organisers to recommend content and speakers for the congress and ensure that the event provides the best possible platform to support improvements in patient safety in the UK. We have valued Rosi’s insights, guidance, support, and on-site chairing of sessions at the Congress and very much look forward to working with her in her new capacity.

Everyone’s business

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Back in the summer, I tuned in to Newsnight for an item about an NHS Trust where 8,000 people in touch with mental health services died in three years. My daughter was one of the 8,000. Whilst watching the programme, I wondered what I would have thought if I hadn’t been personally involved in these tragedies. I’d have been shocked, definitely, but not necessarily touched. They would have been other people’s stories. “Suicide is everyone’s business” is not my phrase, but one used by Stephen Habgood, Director of MFC, in a discussion following a webinar we co-presented. To which most …

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Life Beyond the Cubicle Project: Piloting of Resources

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Making Families Count invites Expressions of Interest from NHS Trusts to pilot eLearning modules and group-based resources in Jan/Feb 2024.  Trusts taking part in the pilot will be expected to work with the external evaluator for the project, to assist in the collection of monitoring data and also to demonstrate how the pilot fits with the Trusts’ Quality Improvement work. There is no charge to take part.   The Life Beyond the Cubicle learning resources have been developed by Making Families Count, in partnership with Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, funded by NHS England.  The resources aim to educate and update staff on the importance of …

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Patient Safety Congress (Part 2): Apologies and Forgiveness

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At the Patient Safety Congress, I learned how an apology can bring about a minor miracle. James Titcombe related how he lost his baby boy due to serious failings in maternity care. Although these were later detailed in the Morecambe Bay report, James felt there was still a gap in his healing needs. He had never had the chance to speak to any of the people involved in his son’s death and he was left with a sense that nobody cared. Eight years later the Trust facilitated a meeting with one of the midwives they had suspended. During this, she burst …

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Impressions from the Patient Safety Congress (Part 1)

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When I was asked if I’d like to attend the Patient Safety Congress in Manchester in September, I saw no reason not to say yes. Why ever not? I thought. Who wouldn’t want to meet people concerned with keeping patients safe? What’s not to like, as they say? I didn’t realise at that point I would also be listening to people talking about how patients are not kept safe, but at least it wasn’t all about suicide.  When I turned up, I didn’t know whether any of it would make sense to me. I don’t work in healthcare, what’s patient safety got …

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David Smith joins our Board of Directors

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Making Families Count is delighted to announce that David Smith has joined us as a Director. David is a family member with lived experience who has taken part in several MFC webinars as a speaker. He is insightful, knowledgeable, and highly experienced, and we know he will be a fantastic addition to our team of Directors. David says: “I am delighted to have been invited to join the Board of MFC. I hope the knowledge I have gained through my involvement with NHS services in working with families and carers, together with a lifetime working in the field of governance, …

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MFC in Partnership with Autism Oxford and Surrey County Council

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Making Families Count have delivered a range of webinars in partnership with Autism Oxford to Surrey County Council. The webinars have been focused on suicide prevention and autism, delivering training to a range of health and education staff in the County. We have provided the focus on families with lived experience of both autism and suicide prevention, and members of Making Families Count have delivered presentations in those webinars. Autism Oxford provided information about autism and the impact this might have on those who are diagnosed or not and may be considered neurodivergent. We know that around 700,000 people may …

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New handbook published for best practice after a patient safety event

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To mark World Patient Safety Day, Making Families Count and several NHS trusts have published a new handbook entitled “Compassionate communication, meaningful engagement” for all NHS staff. The handbook aims to improve collaboration with patients, their families and carers following a patient safety event. You can get more information and download the handbook here.

HSJ Patient Safety Congress – 18 and 19 September

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On Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 September 2023, the 16th HSJ Patient Safety Congress is being held in Manchester. With over 1,000 people attending, including 143 NHS Trusts and 19 ICS, it’s looking as if this year’s congress is going to have the largest attendance to date.  For the first time, Making Families Count is an official charity partner and we will be running a stand in the exhibitor’s hall. If you’re going to be coming to the congress, please come by and see us – we’d be delighted to meet new and old friends! On Monday 18 September MFC will be …

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“Filming Family Voices” Project

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MFC is working on a new project, filming family members talking about their experiences. We are calling this “Filming Family Voices” and so far we’ve recorded 6 short films. All the films are simply family members speaking about an aspect of their experience which they found profoundly traumatic, questions they have which have never been answered, or statements around what they’ve learned from their experiences. We’ll be using these films in various ways in our training and presentations. We’ll be continuing to make more films over the next few months until we’ve built up a unique and powerful library of films.  If …

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