In addition to running very successful face-to-face training for professionals and organisations, we also offer online training through our webinars and Virtual Training Packages via Microsoft Teams. The latter can be tailored to your organisation’s specific requirements.
We are bringing the same uniquely informed, hard-hitting and impactful training, but the online format allows us to focus on particular issues. We have created a series of excellent new training films to use as part of our online training.
Attendance of staff at Making Families Count webinars can help with the preparation for the introduction of PSIRF (Patient Safety Incident Response Framework). It is recommended that you review how you include family and staff in your investigations to ensure an inclusive approach throughout, that you ensure that you are only using trained investigators who have dedicated time to lead investigations; and you can ensure you have the systems in place to encourage reporting and subsequent learning and improvement.
2022 Webinars
18 May 2022 – Family Liaison – A Key Part of Investigations? – Sold Out
24 May 2022 – Having Difficult Conversations with Families
8 June 2022 – Positive Family Engagement – An essential part of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework
15 June 2022 – Managing Risk – Working with families to prevent mental health homicide
22 September 2022 – The Benefits Of Working Well With Families Who Have Relatives In Forensic Services
28 September 2022 – Working with Families after Suicide
TBA – Duty of Candour – Why Does It Matter to Families?
“Your speakers were fantastic; really down to earth and impactful. I came away from the session with some tangible, practical things that I can start to use in my practice immediately. The message you are sending is very powerful and “spot on” for the people who attend your webinars.”
Amy Stanley, Clinical Investigations Manager, Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
For more details, see below.
“Family Liaison – A Key Part of Investigations?”
Date: 18 May 2022
Time: 12.30pm – 2.00pm
SOLD OUT
Price: £60 (£50 per person for group bookings of 5 or more people from the same organisation)
There are over 10,000 serious incidents in healthcare each year. Patients and families frequently report that the NHS does not liaise with them in a supportive and helpful manner after these incidents. Increasingly NHS Trusts are setting up their own Family Liaison Officers to improve support for families following a serious incident in certain circumstances. Should all liaison with families be left to the Family Liaison Officers? What if your organisation doesn’t have this option? What about the circumstances where the Family Liaison Officer isn’t able to be the contact for families? Who will work with the family then and what skills do they need to have?
This webinar focuses on the role of meaningful family liaison in the NHS through the growing role of Family Liaison Officers within NHS Trusts. We will examine the different models of NHS FLO, what the job entails and how it can be used well to support families during investigations. We will also be examining how essential good family liaison is during an investigation and how this might be achieved – and if it can be achieved, when there is no role of NHS FLO within your organisation.
We recommend this webinar for staff in their preparation for the introduction of the new PSIRF (Patient Safety Incident Response Framework).
- Len Hodkin (Chair of Directors Making Families Count), Karen Lascelles (Nurse Consultant, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust), Michelle Covarrubias Barber (Patient and Family Liaison Officer for Cambridge and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust – retired)
- All participants will receive the programme in advance, a resources pack with supporting information after the webinar, and a certificate of attendance.
Learning Outcomes
- You will have a more developed understanding of the role of Family Liaison work within an NHS setting.
- You will have improved learning around the different models of FLO work in healthcare which will assist you in knowing if a Family Liaison role will work well for you and your organisation.
- You will have more understanding of how to work well with harmed patients and families when things go wrong and in serious incident investigations.
- You will have more insight and understanding of what Family Liaison work entails and what it can bring to a serious incident investigation.
- You will have a greater understanding of why many people currently working in healthcare see the establishment of Family Liaison Departments as essential for better patient care.
- You will have more understanding of why good family liaison in investigations is so essential and how this can be fostered throughout the organisation – and not just as a role for the FLO (if the role exists)
This learning reinforces the guidelines of NHS “Learning from Deaths” guidance 2018 and could be useful if your organisation is using working with the new Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF).
“Having Difficult Conversations with Families“
Date: 24 May 2022
Time: 12.30pm – 2.00pm
Price: £60 (£50 per person for group bookings of 5 or more people from the same organisation)
Having difficult conversations can be very difficult and emotionally draining. How am I delivering the news, and how is the subject receiving the news? What sort of impact is it going to have on that person and that family? Also, what sort of impact is it having on me in the long run? (NHS consultant)
Staff frequently express concerns about how to have difficult conversations with families. They are often unsure how to have these conversations, lacking confidence and worrying about getting it wrong. This webinar explores what doing it well looks like, what it achieves, and examines the effects of doing it badly and well – giving you a “how-to” guide.
We recommend this webinar for staff in their preparation for the introduction of the new PSIRF (Patient Safety Incident Response Framework)
- Presenters: Jan Fowler (NHS Executive Director retired), Dorit Braun (Making Families Count) and Jan Sunman (Making Families Count).
- All participants will receive the programme in advance, a resources pack with supporting information after the webinar, and a certificate of attendance.
Learning Outcomes
- After the webinar, you will have developed your appreciation of why effective and empathetic communication is important to families following a serious incident.
- You will have improved your awareness of the issues which can make conversations with families difficult.
- You will understand the importance of considering and developing a self-awareness of your own triggers and feelings which may impact upon how you communicate with certain families and in certain situations.
- You will be able to develop a strategy for effectively planning, structuring and opening a difficult conversation.
- You will have developed your understanding of what can make conversations difficult for families, and the potential long-term adverse impact upon families when communications are not done well.
- This learning reinforces the guidelines of NHS “Learning from Deaths” guidance 2018.
“Positive Family Engagement – An essential part of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework“
Date: 8 June 2022
Time: 12.30pm – 2.00pm
Price: £60 (£50 per person for group bookings of 5 or more people from the same organisation)
“Families are often ‘managed’ rather than treated as central to the investigation process, despite holding key information.” (The Future of Patient Safety Investigations, NHSI, Nov 2018)
“Involving families in a compassionate manner is a crucial part of the investigation process.” (PH Health & Social Care Committee, 2019)
As the new Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) is rolled out nationally, this webinar focuses on using positive family engagement within the new framework to transform the investigation experience of patients, families and staff. The webinar examines how essential this is and gives you clear information on how to do this.
- Presenters: Jan Fowler (NHS Executive Director retired), Frank Mullane (CEO of AAFDA and member of Making Families Count) Rosi Reed (Training Coordinator Making Families Count) and Saranna Burgess (Director for Patient Safety and Quality NSFT, early adopter PSIRF)
- All participants will receive the programme in advance, a resources pack with supporting information after the webinar, and a certificate of attendance.
Learning Outcomes
- A more developed understanding of the challenges, opportunities and benefits of engaging positively with families using the new PSIRF.
- The webinar will explore the challenges of undergoing a decision-making process on whether to carry out a PSII or not.
- More in-depth understanding of why involving families positively achieves better investigations for everyone.
- The webinar will help you to develop your skills to involve families in investigations in a positive and supportive manner using the new PSIRF.
- You will gain a better understanding of the outcomes which families feel are important after an incident involving serious harm or death.
- This webinar promotes a learning culture which leads to effective change for your organisation.
“Managing Risk – Working with families to prevent mental health homicide”
Date: 15 June 2022
Time: 12.30pm – 2.00pm
Price: £60 (£50 per person for group bookings of 5 or more people from the same organisation)
“Families often report difficulties in raising safety concerns about relatives so that critical information is absent from risk management and treatment plans. The webinar will provide guidance about effective ways of ensuring that families’ safety concerns can be addressed, and improved safety in mental health care can be achieved.” (NHS Head of Investigations – Mental Health Homicides)
Effective risk management in the community relies on families being able to raise safety concerns about their relatives. This webinar explores what happens when critical information is absent from treatment plans and how to utilise families effectively as part of the care team.
- Presenters: Lucien Champion (Head of Investigations, Mental Health Homicides, NHS England Southeast), Julian Hendy (Making Families Count and Hundred Families), Len Hodkin (Making Families Count and Hundred Families), and Nikki Flux Edmonds (bereaved family member)
- All participants will receive the programme in advance, a resources pack with supporting information after the webinar, and a certificate of attendance.
Learning Outcomes
- You will recognise the benefits of and challenges to effective engagement with the family in managing potential risks posed by an individual with serious mental health issues – to themselves, the family and others.
- You will have developed your understanding of the, sometimes critical, information that families can provide to inform a comprehensive risk management plan and the potential consequences when that information is not recognised or included.
- You will hear from families, first-hand, the potential consequence and impact when they are not ‘heard’ or enabled to engage with the mental healthcare team to keep their family member and others safe.
- You will have enhanced your skills of risk assessment and management.
- You will be be able to develop a strategy that effectively engages families and incorporates the risk factors they can provide, as one of the key pillars of an effective approach to managing risk and providing support.
“The Benefits Of Working Well With Families Who Have Relatives In Forensic Services“
Date: Thursday 22 September 2022
Time: 12.30pm – 2.00pm
Price: £60 (£50 per person for group bookings of 5 or more people from the same organisation)
“Families are now increasingly considered as a critical source of support during the rehabilitation process of their mentally ill relative and are regarded as crisis intervention specialists because they handle relapses and emergencies and protect vulnerable family members” (Wynaden 2007).
“Because carers are often traumatised by the admission of a loved one to secure services, early identification is even more crucial.” (Neil Churchill, NHS England, Director for Participation and Experience)
This webinar examines the issues affecting families with relatives in forensic services. It offers helpful and practical solutions for health and social care professionals to work better with and give better support to families and carers, helping the rehabilitation process of their relative.
- Presenters: Jonathan Beebee (Chief Enablement Officer and Nurse Consultant PBS4), Jez Harris (co-chair NHSE’s Parent Council and Family Ambassador NHS England), Lucien Champion (Head of Investigations, Mental Health Homicides, NHS England Southeast), Jan Sunman (Making Families Count)
- All participants will receive the programme in advance, a resources pack with supporting information after the webinar, and a certificate of attendance.
Learning Outcomes
- After the webinar, you will have an improved understanding of how to engage with patients and families in a positive way when their relative has forensic needs.
- You will have improved learning and identification of the issues around working with patients and families and the complexities that can come with forensic risks.
- You will have a more developed understanding of family’s perspectives when their family member is in a secure setting.
- You will learn about a model of peer support for families using CAMHS forensic services which can also be applied to all forensic services.
- You will be more confident in engaging in a process that is more thoughtful, compassionate and supportive towards families and promotes partnership working.
- You will have a better understanding and more confidence having difficult conversations with families around procedures and risk management.
“Working with Families after Suicide“
Date: Wednesday 28 September 2022
Time: 12.30pm – 2.00pm
Price: £60 (£50 per person for group bookings of 5 or more people from the same organisation)
“The National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England identifies improving support for people bereaved by suicide as a key objective and the NHS Long Term Plan highlights the aim of ensuring adequate services for all people bereaved by suicide. Much of this support will be community-based, but NHS providers also have a responsibility to offer both support and signposting to families and carers of service users who die by suicide.” (NHS Nurse Consultant, Suicide Prevention)
Understanding and supporting those who have lost someone to suicide can be difficult and sensitive, given the complex nature of suicide and its impact on both family members and friends. This webinar will raise awareness of these complex issues with the aim of helping us to better support families through this difficult and tragic event. Staff often find it difficult to engage with families when there has been a suicide and worry about saying the wrong thing or causing further distress. This webinar seeks to explore those complex issues and explain how health and care staff can better support and manage a family through the acute phase of dealing with their loss. The webinar will also help organisations to understand the unique and alarming event called ‘contagion’ or ‘clusters’, which can sometimes occur.
- Presenters: Stephen Habgood (Director, Making Families Count), Karen Lascelles (Nurse Consultant, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust), and David Smith.
- All participants will receive the programme in advance, a resources pack with supporting information after the webinar, and a certificate of attendance.
Learning Outcomes
- You will have an understanding of approaches NHS Trusts can take to supporting and signposting families and carers bereaved by the suicide of a service user.
- You will have an understanding of the impact working with people bereaved by suicide might have on staff.
- You will better understand the difficulties people experience coming to terms with a suicide and how this might increase their vulnerability to suicide and the reason why they need themselves to be supported.
- You will be familiar with the national position with regard to provision of support services for people bereaved by suicide.
- You will better appreciate how working with families is in the interest of someone with suicidal ideation and those who have been touched by suicide.
- You will gain an insight into the complex issue of contagion and clusters which can sometimes follow a suicide event.
“Duty of Candour – Why Does It Matter to Families?“
Date: TBA
Time: 12.30pm – 2.00pm
Price: £60 (£50 per person for group bookings of 5 or more people from the same organisation)
Since 2014, Duty of Candour has been a statutory duty and should be used with patients and families when something has gone wrong which has caused or could lead to significant harm, but many staff are still unsure how and when to use it after a serious incident.
This webinar focuses on the importance of using Duty of Candour correctly, understanding when and how to use it, and the difference it can make to patients and families. Includes a “how and when” guide by an NHS professional, a positive family experience of DoC done well, and the use of a “gold standard” DoC letter.
We recommend this webinar for staff to prepare for the introduction of the new PSIRF (Patient Safety Incident Response Framework).
- Presenters: Lucien Champion (Head of Investigations, NHS England South) and Jan Sunman (Making Families Count)
- All participants will receive the programme in advance, a resources pack with supporting information after the webinar, and a certificate of attendance.
Learning Outcomes
- You will have improved learning and greater confidence around the delivery of the Duty of Candour.
- You will have a greater understanding of how correct use of Duty of Candour can greatly affect patients and their families, following a serious incident or investigation.
- You will have a greater understanding of where patient confidentiality, legal frameworks and Duty of Candour sit in your organisation and how to meet the necessary criteria.
- You will have greater confidence in knowing when, why and how you are using Duty of Candour, leading to improved learning and identification of issues in incident management.
- You will have improved learning around the importance of a collaborative incident investigation process that is thoughtful, compassionate and supportive to families and staff.
- This learning reinforces the conclusions in the CQC (2016) report “Learning, Candour and Accountability” and the guidelines of NHS “Learning from Deaths” guidance 2018.
Refund Policy
You can find our refund policy here.
Guest Presenters
Michelle Barber
Michelle has been working in the NHS for well over 25 years working in acute Trusts. During this time, she has performed a variety of roles from clinical to managerial posts with the express wish to improve the care provided to service users and their families.
She has been employed in the capacity of Service Improvement Manager with the aim of removing unnecessary processes in order to expedite treatment and ensuring services were patient focussed. She enjoys interacting with patients directly and ensuring that the care and services they receive meet their needs.
More recently, Michelle joined a Community Trust as a Family Liaison Officer, making her the second person in the country to be employed in this capacity in the health sector anywhere in England. Since then, she has dedicated herself to improving the services delivered to patients and families involved in serious incidents, has created online training courses to assist Family Liaison Officers in ensuring the support they delivered is consistent, structured, and evidence-based. She is the founder of the only National FLO Forum in England where professionals in this field can share best practice, provide peer support and share improvements ensuring that the support they offer is targeted to individuals, follows current guidance and legislation and results in the best possible outcomes for the patients and families who are the subject of serious incidents. Michelle has recently retired but continues to support the work of FLOs.
Jonathan Beebee
Jonathan is a Registered Nurse in Learning Disabilities. He is the Royal College of Nursing’s Professional Lead in Learning Disabilities and Chief Enablement Officer/Nurse Consultant for PBS4, a social care provider that supports people who display challenging behaviours, including offending behaviours.
Jonathan has previously worked in a secure forensic CAMHS hospital, a Youth Offending Team, and run adapted sex offender treatment programmes as part of a community learning disability service. He has undertaken work for the Department of Health mapping the needs of offenders with learning disabilities and been Learning Disability Policy Manager for the Care Quality Commission to improve regulation of the support people with learning disabilities receive.
Paul Coleman
Paul is a civil solicitor with 8 years’ experience based in Bromley in Kent. Prior to this, he worked in the City of London in the financial sector.
Within his role of director at his firm, he works very closely with the Hundred Families charity and advises bereaved families who have lost loved ones through mental health homicides. He also assists families with inquests, as it is extremely difficult to get the legal assistance families need through the legal aid system. He has given talks organised by Hundred Families in which he explains to families the process, including the difficulties, of any legal claim they may have.
Jeremy Harris
Jeremy (Jez) Harris is the father of Bethany, whose story made national headlines after she was kept locked in seclusion for 3 years. An avid campaigner, he also now co-chairs NHSE’s Parent Council and carries out various roles as an Expert by Experience including CQC reviews and Care Treatment reviews.
Karen Lascelles
Karen Lascelles has been a mental health nurse for 30 years, always with an interest in self-harm and suicide and has specialised in this area for the last 15 years. As a nurse consultant, she is involved in supporting colleagues with complex cases, working clinically with people experiencing suicidal crises and their carers, supporting families and carers who are bereaved by suicide and supporting staff after the death of a patient by suicide.
She is also involved in various research and quality improvement endeavours to increase knowledge and improve suicide prevention practice. This includes her professional doctorate, in which she is investigating the experiences and support needs of adults who care for an adult family member or friend they consider to be at risk of suicide.
In addition, Karen is involved in education and training around suicide risk assessment and management.
Zoe Picton Howell
Zoe is mum to Adam Bojelian, a multi-award winning young poet and healthcare advocate who lived with cerebral palsy acquired at birth and died from sepsis aged 15 in 2015.
Zoe is also a solicitor, healthcare academic, medical education tutor at Edinburgh University’s medical school and director of the Adam Bojelian Foundation CIC, a not-for-profit organisation which provides education and training in healthcare law and ethics to NHS and wider organisations and staff.
Zoe has also served on numerous research and guidance drafting committees, regionally and nationally, including Royal College, NICE and UK government guidance.
Zoe was a chapter author for Disability Matters and has published and presented nationally and internationally on child health law, particularly best interest decision making.
David Smith
David Smith retired from his position as a Vice-principal of one of the country’s leading FE colleges in 2011. Months later, his daughter, Bethan, died whilst in the care of the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Bethan was 31 years old. An inquest 18 months later found that whilst the Trust had not been negligent in its care of Beth, there were multiple failings on its part. Four Rule 43 reports (now referred to as ‘Prevention of Future Deaths Reports) were made by the Coroner.
In the subsequent years, the family battled with the Trust over its failings, an exchange which, over time, became more about its continual policy and procedural failings and less about Beth.
As part of their campaigning, David and his wife, Aldyth, attended an event in 2016 organised by the charity INQUEST on behalf of the CQC in its research into what became its report ‘Learning, Candour and Accountability’. The acceptance of this report led to the ‘Learning from Deaths’ programme, and David was appointed in 2017 as one of two family members with lived experience to the ‘Learning from Deaths Programme Board’. The task of the Board was to oversee the implementation of the CQC’c recommendations.