Webinars

Making Families Count provides inspirational training, helping organisations to positively engage with families and learn from families’ experiences. This transforms the experience of family members and improves the care provided.

Our webinars have all been updated to assist organisations in preparing and using PSIRF (Patient Safety Incident Response Framework).

In addition to webinars, we offer bespoke in-house training as well as Virtual Training Packages tailored to the needs of your organisation.

Autumn/Winter 2023 Webinars

11 October 2023 – Confidentiality and Information Sharing with Families

19 and 26 October 2023 (2-day webinar) – Family Liaison Services – Working for Families

9 November 2023Positive Family Engagement – An essential part of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework

16 November 2023Working Well with Distressed Families

30 November 2023 3 Dads Talking – Working with Families after Suicide

5 December 2023 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.

Confidentiality and Information Sharing with Families

Stephen Habgood presenting at a conference.

Date: Wednesday 11 October 2023

Time: 12.30pm – 2.00pm

Price: £60 (£50 per person for group bookings of 5 or more people from the same organisation)

This webinar is now over but will be run again. Please contact us to register your interest.

Families frequently report that the issue of confidentiality is a recurring theme in their experience of losing a family member to suicide. This webinar recognises the difficulties for healthcare staff in balancing the rights of an individual to confidentiality and the importance of working closely with families – listening to their concerns and the information they are able to provide, as key factors in determining risk and planning effective interventions for service users. This webinar will help you work through how legitimate concerns about confidentiality are compatible with information sharing and will give practical ideas about how you could do this.  

This webinar is for…

  • Caldicott Guardians
  • Information and Medical Records Managers
  • Family Liaison / Family Engagement Managers 
  • Legal Services staff
  • Clinical Directors / Managers

Presenters

Stephen Habgood (Making Families Count), Dorit Braun (Making Families Count), Dr Sarah Constantine (Medical Director Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust), and Dr Zoe Picton Howell (solicitor, medical education tutor Edinburgh University’s medical school, director of the Adam Bojelian Foundation CIC). 

Learning Outcomes

  • You will have a greater awareness of the range of issues relating to patient confidentiality and information sharing in clinical practice.
  • You will have an improved understanding of how to manage the tensions between an individual’s right to confidentiality and the sharing of information which may protect life and prevent harm. Reflecting upon where confidentiality and sharing information sit in relation to an individual who may be at risk of suicide.
  • You will have developed your knowledge of the importance of sharing information and the legal and ethical justifications for doing so.
  • Listening to the family perspective, you will have developed your understanding of the importance of working with families and carers as important partners in assessing risk, determining diagnosis and developing appropriate care for an individual.

All participants will receive the programme and background information about Making Families Count in advance. Everyone who attends will also receive a resource pack (including a shareable PDF guide and the speakers’ slides) and a certificate of attendance. 

Family Liaison Services – Working for Families

Rosi Reed presenting

This training webinar runs over two days and both days must be booked.

Day 1: Thursday 19 October 2023

Day 2: Thursday 26 October 2023

Time: 12.30pm – 2.30pm (2 hours)

Price: £160 (per person for both webinars, no group price)

This webinar is now over but will be run again. Please contact us to register your interest.

Making Families Count are excited to launch this two-part webinar programme, designed specifically for NHS staff who are committed to engaging positively with patients and families after a serious patient safety incident.

The programme seeks to create a unique learning experience for those in Family Liaison or Patient Engagement roles across the NHS. It focuses on learning from the lived experience of patients and families after serious patient safety incidents, contrasts the family liaison roles within the NHS and other sectors and shares the learning from experts who have developed and run Family Liaison services in other parts of the NHS. The model of delivery enables delegates to interact with each other and with presenters, learning from each other and developing or expanding their own peer support networks which will be beneficial way beyond the event itself.

This webinar is for…

  • Family Liaison Service Teams
  • Patient Engagement Teams
  • Directors of Nursing and Patient Services
  • Staff involved in Serious Incident Investigations
  • Staff involved in PSIRF implementation

Presenters

Day 1: Stephen Habgood (Making Families Count), Rosi Reed (Making Families Count), Sue Massingham (family member), Karen Lascelles (Nurse Consultant, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust).
Day 2: Len Hodkin (Making Families Count), Neil Meade (Detective Inspector, Avon and Somerset Police), Karen Lascelles, Jan Fowler (Making Families Count), Donna Forsyth.

Learning Outcomes

  • Contrasting the model of family liaison within the NHS and other sectors to create an understanding of alternate approaches, training, and service delivery.
  • Develop a deeper understanding of the impact and long-term consequences for families of poor engagement during protracted incident investigations. Hearing the family’s perspective after an incident involving serious harm or death.
  • Consider the crucial link between the NHS Trust and the family as they negotiate the difficult and complex NHS investigation process and related processes, e.g. inquests.
  • Developing strong communication skills, being able to listen and empathise to build trust with families.
  • Develop an approach to create an ethical relationship with the family by building trust, sharing information between families and the investigation lead, providing information about additional services available to families, and signposting to relevant support agencies. Consider the continuation of support, if needed, when the investigation closes.
  • Considering your own peer support network and opportunities for expanding this further, and using this webinar to reflect upon additional training and development needs and how these can be met.

All participants will receive the programme and background information about Making Families Count in advance. Everyone who attends will also receive a resource pack and a certificate of attendance. 

Positive Family Engagement – An essential part of the Patient Safety Incident Response Framework”

Frank Mullane presenting

Date: Thursday 9 November 2023

Time: 12.30pm – 2.00pm

Price: £60 (£50 per person for group bookings of 5 or more people from the same organisation)

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. It will feature presentations showing the devastating effect of poor family engagement on bereaved families, and the transformative effect positive family engagement has on investigations for staff and families. The webinar will provide clear information on when and how to develop positive family engagement during investigations, in line with PSIRF.

This webinar has been developed in line with the national NHS Patient Safety Standards introduced as part of the NHS Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) and the Engaging and involving patients, families and staff following a patient safety incident PSIRF supporting guidance. 

This webinar is for…

  • Patient Safety Leads / Manager / Advisors
  • Family Liaison Service Teams
  • PSIRF Implementation Teams
  • Governance Leads / Managers / Directors
  • Clinical Leads in Safety & Quality

Presenters

Jan Fowler (NHS Executive Director retired), Frank Mullane (CEO of AAFDA and member of Making Families Count), Jan Sunman (Former Chairperson of Making Families Count), and Saranna Burgess (Director for Patient Safety and Quality NSFT, early adopter PSIRF).

Learning Outcomes

Delegates will gain a better understanding and develop skills in the following areas:

  • The challenges, opportunities, and benefits of engaging positively with families using the new PSIRF
  • Why positively engaging families achieves better investigation outcomes for everyone
  • The challenges of undergoing a decision-making process on whether to carry out a PSII or not
  • The family’s perspective after an incident involving serious harm or death
  • How to involve families in investigations in a positive and supportive manner using the new PSIRF principles for engaging and involving those affected by patient safety incidents
  • Promoting a learning culture which can lead to effective change for your organisation.

All participants will receive the programme and background information about Making Families Count in advance. Everyone who attends will also receive a resource pack (including a shareable PDF guide and the speakers’ slides) and a certificate of attendance.

Working Well with Distressed Families

Jan Sunman giving a presentation

Date: Thursday 16 November 2023

Time: 12.30pm – 2.00pm

Price: £60 (£50 per person for group bookings of 5 or more people from the same organisation)

Health staff frequently express concerns about how to work well with distressed families. They are often unsure about when and how to make contact and have conversations. They lack confidence and worry about getting it wrong, which can result in delaying contacting the family or avoiding the contact altogether which inevitably makes the situation worse. This webinar explores what working well with distressed families looks like, why it is so important and what it achieves. We also examine the effects of doing it badly and doing it well through the presentations of family members and give you a useful “how-to and when-to” guide.

This webinar has been developed in line with the national NHS Patient Safety Standards introduced as part of the NHS Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) and the Engaging and involving patients, families and staff following a patient safety incident PSIRF supporting guidance.

This webinar is for…

  • Patient Safety Managers
  • PSIRF Implementation Teams
  • Clinical Leads in Safety & Quality
  • Clinical front-line staff
  • Clinical Directors / Managers
  • Family Liaison / Family Engagement Managers 
  • Bereavement teams

Presenters

Jan Fowler (NHS Executive Director retired), Dorit Braun (Making Families Count), Jan Sunman (Making Families Count), and Rosi Reed (Making Families Count).  

Learning Outcomes

Delegates will gain understanding and knowledge in the following areas:

  • This webinar reflects on the lived experience of families, exploring the potential long-term adverse impact when communication and engagement are not done in a supportive manner, as well as the positive impact even small expressions of support and kindness can make.
  • The webinar considers what makes a meaningful apology, the importance of families being heard, and the importance of ensuring families are treated compassionately and with empathy.
  • You will gain a better understanding of the family’s perspective after an incident involving serious harm or death. 
  • How to effectively plan, structure, and open difficult conversations with a distressed family. The focus is on an approach that helps alleviate the harm experienced and avoids compounding that harm.
  • You will understand the importance of considering and developing a self-awareness of your own triggers and feelings, managing how these may impact upon how you communicate with certain families and in certain situations, and building your own important well-being strategy.

All participants will receive the programme and background information about Making Families Count in advance. Everyone who attends will also receive a resource pack (including a shareable PDF guide and the speakers’ slides) and a certificate of attendance.

“3 Dads Talking – Working with Families after Suicide

Stephen Habgood presenting

Date: Thursday 30 November 2023

Time: 12.30pm – 2.00pm

Price: £60 (£50 per person for group bookings of 5 or more people from the same organisation)

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 family members and friends. This webinar will raise awareness of these complex issues to help us 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. In this webinar, we explore how health and care staff can better support and manage a family through the acute phase of dealing with their loss, thus increasing the confidence of staff members in working with families after a death.

This webinar is for…

  • Mental Health Clinical Teams – Crisis Teams / Early Intervention Teams / Assertive Outreach Teams / Community Mental Health Teams
  • Clinical leads in Safety & Quality / Governance
  • Clinical Directors / Managers
  • Family Liaison / Family Engagement Managers 
  • Bereavement teams

Presenters

Stephen Habgood (Director, Making Families Count), David Smith (Making Families Count), Trevor Stevens (Making Families Count), and Karen Lascelles (Nurse Consultant, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust).

Learning Outcomes

Delegates will gain understanding and develop skills in the following areas:

  • You will better understand the difficulties people experience coming to terms with a suicide and how this might increase their vulnerability to suicide themselves and the reason why they need to be supported.
  • Approaches the NHS can take to support and signpost families bereaved by suicide.
  • How working well with families is in the interest of someone with suicidal ideation and those who have been touched by suicide.
  • The impact working with people bereaved by suicide might have on staff.
  • The webinar considers the national position with regard to the provision of support services for people bereaved by suicide.
  • You will gain an insight into the complex issue of contagion and clusters which can sometimes follow a suicide event.

All participants will receive the programme and background information about Making Families Count in advance. Everyone who attends will also receive a resource pack (including a shareable PDF guide and the speakers’ slides) and a certificate of attendance.

“Duty of Candour – Why Does It Matter to Families?

Making Families Count Presentation

Date: Tuesday 5 December 2023

Time: 12.30pm – 2.00pm

Price: £60 (£50 per person for group bookings of 5 or more people from the same organisation)

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. It includes a presentation around the long-term negative effects of Duty of Candour failings, a positive family experience of DoC done well, a “how, when and why” guide from an NHS professional and the use of a “gold standard” DoC letter.

This webinar has been developed in line with the national NHS Patient Safety Standards introduced as part of the NHS Patient Safety Incident Response Framework (PSIRF) and the Engaging and involving patients, families and staff following a patient safety incident PSIRF supporting guidance.

This webinar is for…

  • Governance leads / Managers / Directors
  • Caldicott Guardians
  • Clinical Directors / Managers
  • Family Liaison Service Teams
  • Legal Service Teams

Presenters

Lucien Champion (Head of Investigations, NHS England South and Making Families Count), Jan Sunman (Making Families Count), and Len Hodkin (Making Families Count and Hundred Families).

Learning Outcomes

Delegates will gain understanding and develop skills in the following areas:

  • Reflecting on the lived experience of families, this webinar focuses on how the Duty of Candour, used effectively, is a key part of the NHS PSIRF and can have a significantly positive impact on families after a safety incident.
  • The importance of a collaborative incident investigation process that is thoughtful, compassionate, and supportive to families and staff.
  • The development of learning and greater confidence around the delivery of the Duty of Candour.
  • You will gain a greater understanding of where patient confidentiality, legal frameworks, and Duty of Candour sit in NHS organisations, and how to meet the necessary criteria.
  • You will develop 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.

All participants will receive the programme and background information about Making Families Count in advance. Everyone who attends will also receive a resource pack (including a shareable PDF guide and the speakers’ slides) and a certificate of attendance.

Refund Policy

You can find our refund policy here.