The Life Beyond the Cubicle resources have been endorsed by leading figures.
Dr Karl Marlow, Chief Medical Officer and Consultant Psychiatrist, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust:
We are incredibly proud to have partnered with Making Families Count to contribute to the design and test this training resources for staff working in health settings. An independent evaluation has shown that 90% of clinicians in different NHS Trusts who tested the training, found this directly relevant to their work. This work is helping us to further embed the importance of working with family and friends carers in everything we do.
Ellie Gordon, RN (MH), Senior Nurse: Learning Disability and Mental Health, National, Workforce, Training and Education Directorate, NHS England:
I really welcome this resource. It supports reflective practice and encourages clinicians to think creatively and constructively about how best to engage with families and friends carers in order to improve the care they give.
Dr Rachel Gibbons, Co-Chair Patient Safety Group, Chair Working Group on the Effect of Suicide and Homicide on Psychiatrists, Vice-Chair of the Psychotherapy Faculty:
Life Beyond the Cubicle is an invaluable resource and training that bridges the communication gap between families and mental health services. This well-developed tool is essential for clinicians, fostering thoughtful dialogue, and supporting reparative functioning after traumatic events. It is a vital step forward in mental health care, addressing a significant need in the field. All mental health services should engage with this transformative initiative.
Dr Emma Rowland, Chief Operating Officer, Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust:
A great resource that should be used by anyone who engages with people in a mental health crisis in their work and beyond. It’s engaging and incredibly helpful in enabling us all to reflect on the importance of sometimes what might be small acts of kindness with significant impacts on someone’s life.
Dr Zoe Brummell, Intensive Care Consultant, University College London Hospitals:
This is such an impressive set of resources to improve patient care and patient safety. Relevant to anyone working in a setting in which people with a mental health crisis turn up, it shows why it is so vital to engage meaningfully with family and friends, and helps clinicians face and reconsider the barriers that stop them doing so.
Lucien Champion, Head of Investigations, NHS England South-East:
Independent reviews of the care and treatment of people using mental health services regularly identify meaningful engagement with families and carers as a theme for improvement, I strongly recommend this resource as a tool to support clinicians to reflect on their practice and develop skills to work collaboratively with families and friends to improve safety planning.
Nikki Crust, Senior Safety Investigator, HSSIB:
These resources are such a powerful tool for staff working with people with mental health problems. The scenarios and case studies used reflect the experiences of patients and families we spoke with during our HSSIB investigation. They offer opportunity and time for reflection on how individuals and teams might respond to different scenarios involving people in mental health crises, including the wider impact on families and carers. This is a fantastic piece of work that everyone working and supporting people in mental health crisis should consider using.
Dr Karen Harrison-White, Nursing Education Senior Specialist, Honorary Professor (Brunel University, London), Workforce, Training and Education Directorate, NHS England South East Region:
I was delighted to support this project. It has been fantastic to be involved in one of the best examples of co-production I’ve ever encountered, and to see the outcome of fabulous learning resources.