Latest news

4 February 2019

The Shelford Group is a collaboration between ten of the largest teaching and research NHS Trusts in England (including Trusts in Cambridge, Oxford, London, Birmingham, Newcastle, Sheffield and Manchester).

The Group was formed in 2011 and aims to shares learning between members and initiate joint projects for large-scale improvement in the NHS.  Many NHS Trusts use data from the leading Shelford organisations to benchmark their own performance.

Nine of the NHS Trusts within the Group run the SAGE & THYME Foundation Level workshop - either under their own licence, or under a network licence held by another organisation.

This demonstrates how SAGE & THYME training is now the most established foundation level communication skills training programme for NHS staff.

For the start of 2019, the SAGE & THYME Foundation Level workshop has been revised and updated, following consultation with a number of SAGE & THYME facilitators.

The changes include:

Doctors and other healthcare professionals find it hard to talk about dying, states a new report from the Royal College of Physicians, 'Talking about dying: How to begin honest conversations about what lies ahead'.

We run a 3.5 hour workshop called 'SAGE & THYME ACP', which teaches health and social care professionals how to open a conversation about advance care planning and to deal with the patient's concerns as they arise.

This year’s Study Day is on Tuesday 13th November at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester.

The event includes: presentations from organisations running SAGE & THYME training across the UK; updates from the SAGE & THYME team on issues such as the change in the way SATFAC feedback is given and running the workshop; and an interactive discussion session.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust has been shortlisted for a Nursing Times 'Enhancing Patient Dignity' award for its work on SAGE & THYME.

The award submission was entitled 'Giving every patient their voice - teaching every nurse how to listen'.  It explains how the memorable structure of SAGE & THYME helps nurses and others to use evidence-based skills in conversations with patients, as dignity in care starts with patients being carefully listened to.

To mark 10 years of collaboration between Macmillan Cancer Support professionals and SAGE & THYME, an article has been published in Macmillan's summer edition of its 'Mac Voice' magazine.

The article, written by Mike Connolly (Lead Trainer of SAGE & THYME and Consultant Nurse in Supportive and Palliative Care at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust), talks about how Macmillan was an early adopter of the SAGE & THYME Foundation Level workshop and that to date it has supported more than 230 professionals to become SAGE & THYME facilitators.

We are pleased to announce that to encourage new organisations interested in adopting the SAGE & THYME Foundation Level workshop to find out more about it, we are offering them the chance to ‘try before they buy’.

This offer is SAGE & THYME’s contribution to celebrating 70 years of the NHS, and will therefore last until 31 Dec 2018.

We are offering two free places (normally costing £90 each)* for two members of staff within an organisation that is not currently running the SAGE & THYME training, to attend a SAGE & THYME Foundation Level workshop at Wythenshawe Hospital in Manchester.

14 May 2018

Dying Matters week is an annual event to raise the profile of talking about dying, death and bereavement. Giving a terminally ill person the chance to plan their end of life, allows them to indicate their wishes around their care when their condition deteriorates, in the event that they no longer have the capacity to make decisions, and/or the ability to communicate their wishes to others in the future. These wishes are recorded in an advance care plan.

Professionals responsible for discussing advance care planning with patients include GPs, senior nurses and social care staff. They often report that they don't know how to open such discussions and then structure the conversation, whilst supporting the patient with their concerns. The SAGE & THYME for Advance Care Planning (ACP) workshop teaches staff who have knowledge on the processes and procedures (e.g. Gold Standards Framework) around ACP, how to speak with patients.

9 April 2018

Listening to patients is a key part of their care in the NHS. Helping them to talk through their concerns can provide effective support, by allowing patients to think clearly and consider what might help them. Foundation level communication skills facilitate listening to patients and the SAGE & THYME Foundation Level workshop is believed to be the most widespread training programme teaching these skills - it is currently being taught in 1 in 5 acute, community, mental health, and ambulance Trusts in England.

1 February 2018

NHS Tayside adopted the SAGE & THYME training to complement their advanced communication skills programme.  The aim was to enable all staff in contact with patients, from a variety of backgrounds, to be taught how to listen to patients using a person-centred approach.

Nearly 100% of people who have attended the training would recommend it to others.  Staff, including healthcare support workers, say that they have more confidence in speaking to patients and carers about their concerns and show that they have learnt key aspects of effective communication.

To find out more about the benefits of the training to NHS Tayside, click here to go to the case study page.

15 January 2018

We're pleased to announce our second SAGE & THYME case study on how and why University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust adopted the SAGE & THYME foundation level workshop.  It also covers the challenges the Trust was facing, the benefits of the training and some tips for those organisations considering running the training.

Click here to go to the case studies page.

18 December 2017

Two new papers have just been published on the SAGE & THYME Foundation Level workshop by Dr Jane Griffiths at the University of Manchester.

The first, published in British Journal of Community Nursing, is an article entitled 'Person-centred communication for emotional support in district nursing: SAGE and THYME model'.

The second is a review in the International Journal of Palliative Nursing, entitled 'Communication in palliative care: the applicability of the SAGE and THYME model in Singapore', and was co-authored with Ang Seng Hick Martin (Singapore General Hospital) and Professor John Costello at the University of Manchester.

Click on the links above to read the abstracts.