24 October 2016

The Academy of Fabulous Stuff is devoted to sharing ideas and best practice in the NHS.  The aim is to make NHS services "better, quicker, safer, more reliable and cost effective".

Effective communication skills can improve patient satisfaction, compliance with treatment and quality of life.  However, research suggests that these skills don't improve without training and therefore they need to be taught.  The SAGE & THYME foundation level workshop is one way of teaching the NHS workforce the general communication skills they need to listen to patients and respond in a patient-focussed manner.

Discussing dying with people who are facing death is technically challenging and emotionally unpredictable.  Consequently, many senior health workers resist and avoid such conversations, preventing patients from having more control and influence over their treatment and care.  The SAGE & THYME for advance care planning (ACP) and end of life conversations teaches senior staff how to open a conversation about dying, listen to patients, respond to their distress and support them using an evidence-based patient-focussed approach.

Both the SAGE & THYME foundation level and ACP workshops are now being disseminated around the NHS via the Academy of Fabulous Stuff web site.