Following the tragic death of my daughter-in-law, I began to get involved in various initiatives to support clinicians to improve mental health services, and learn from deaths by overcoming the barriers to meaningful engagement of family and friends’ carers. I joined Making Families Count, and met with other family members and health …
On November 2nd, 2017, I was transported instantly from the bubble I call my life, to a completely different bubble. My new, hugely unwelcome bubble happened when my grandson Harry was born at East Kent hospitals and made extremely unwell by abstract poor care. The new bubble demanded completely different …
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 …
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 …
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 …
Like many people I’ve met since my daughter died by suicide in December 2020, I have tried to turn my grief into something positive. Such a positive response is quite common. Generally, for those whose child has died in this manner, their uppermost if not necessarily initial thought is that …
If you want to know how to look after suicidal young people, you can’t do much better than read this. It’s the true story of a teenager who credits her teacher with saving her life. What follows is a summary – the full version can be listened to at BBC …
The church has long held the view that suicide was a sin. PAPYRUS challenged the Catholic church’s view that suicide was a sin, which also contributed to the stigma around suicide and the view that the suicidal person had ‘committed’ a sin. We were sent a very clear message that …
Failure to answer legitimate questions can often prevent families cope and recover from their loss. It can leave them psychologically stuck, still grieving, unable to move on.
Commentary over many years has described the importance of meaningful family engagement following a patient safety incident. Failing to effectively involve patients and families excludes their experiences from investigations and perpetuates feelings that their voices are not heard.