Latest news

5 December 2017

Princess Alice Hospice is one of the largest in the UK, with around 500 staff and 1,200 volunteers (including retail team and drivers involved in fund raising).  It has been rated ‘outstanding’ in all 5 domains of its last Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection.

SAGE & THYME was adopted by the hospice because, whilst advanced communication skills training existed for senior medical staff; there was nothing available for junior clinical staff and also non-clinical staff and volunteers who also come into contact with distressed (and sometimes bereaved) people.

Jane Berg, Deputy Director - Skills Knowledge and Research and SAGE & THYME facilitator says: “To use an analogy, teaching SAGE & THYME is like teaching first aid for people who are upset.”

13 November 2017

Hospice UK has recently announced that two types of Wolfson Foundation education bursaries are open for application: one is for care home nurses and healthcare assistants; and the other is for hospice staff (nurse, healthcare assistant, doctor, allied health professional, or social worker).

The aim of the bursaries is to provide education for staff that will lead to improving the quality of end of life care for their residents, patients and families.

The SAGE & THYME facilitator ('SATFAC') course is on the list of eligible courses for the bursary.

There is a limited pot of funding available for the bursaries so early applications for the funding are encouraged.

For more information on how to apply for a bursary, click here.

10 November 2017

A summary of the evidence of the impact of the SAGE & THYME foundation level workshop was presented as a poster at the UK Oncology Nurse Society in Harrogate today.

Mike Connolly, the lead developer and head trainer of the SAGE & THYME programme, attended the conference to present the findings and answer questions.  He also tweeted from @SAGEandTHYME_

1 October 2017

Today, University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust (UHSM) joined with Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT), to form Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT).

We will be updating the web site and all SAGE & THYME documents with the new organisation name in due course.

26 September 2017

The lead developer and head trainer of SAGE & THYME, Michael Connolly, will be presenting a poster on SAGE & THYME at the UK Oncology Nursing Society (UKONS) conference on Friday 10 November.

The conference takes place in the Harrogate Convention Centre and the poster summarises the research evidence on the impact of the SAGE & THYME Foundation Level workshop on staff communication skills. 

10 August 2017

The annual SAGE & THYME study day is being held on Thurs 16 November 2017 in Manchester for SAGE & THYME facilitators, key contacts and potential new customers.  It will consist of a mix of presentations and discussions on:

• The first 10 years of SAGE & THYME training: establishing the credibility of the workshop and unlocking the training potential in the NHS - Mike Connolly, SAGE & THYME Team
• Establishing a facilitators’ forum across Northern Ireland – Denise Cranston, South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust
• Why hospices run the SAGE & THYME foundation level workshop - Andrew Kenwrick, Mary Stevens Hospice (Birmingham)
• Starting out with SAGE & THYME: things to consider - Robert Smith, Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• My two years as a facilitator – what I’ve learnt - Andy Wells, Bolton NHS Foundation Trust
• Interactive discussion: choosing usable scenarios for rehearsals - sharing the ‘dos’ and the ‘definitely don’ts’
• Interactive discussion: things we know now, that we didn’t know when we started out – panel of morning presenters

11 July 2017

The SAGE & THYME training programme for teaching foundation level communication skills is now 10 years old.  Here's how it looks in numbers:

18 May 2017

The SAGE & THYME foundation level workshop has been evaluated by The University of Northampton Institute of Health and Wellbeing, as one component in a series of multi-professional and multi-agency training courses run, to ensure the delivery of high quality services to frail and older people in Northampton.

The Northamptonshire Local Education and Training Council (LETC) received funding from Health Education England to run and evaluate a suite of training courses (including SAGE & THYME) centred around: prevention and enabling self-care; geriatric assessment and personalised care planning; management of long term conditions; and end of life care.

The SAGE & THYME foundation level workshop was delivered by the Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.  The University’s report highlighted that the SAGE & THYME (S&T) workshop “engenders a sense that this was a well presented, easy to follow communication course which could be applied to practice easily”.

Read more

8 May 2017

Today marks the start of the annual Dying Matters Week, designed to raise awareness about the importance of talking about and planning dying, death and bereavement.

To coincide with this campaign, we have a series of Tweets available @SAGEandTHYME_ that highlight: why advance care planning is important; what clinicians are thinking before they discuss an advance care plan with patients and their carers; what the SAGE & THYME for Advance Care Planning workshop covers; and the outcomes of the training.

2 March 2017

Oxford University Press have recently published the second edition of the 'Oxford Textbook of Communication in Oncology and Palliative Care', which contains a whole chapter on the SAGE & THYME model, written by Michael Connolly (the lead developer of the SAGE & THYME training).

The chapter covers:

• the background to the development of the SAGE & THYME model
• foundation level communication skills and how they are taught in cancer nursing
• a description of the model and the workshop and the evidence and justification behind each element
• the evidence on the impact of the workshop on communication knowledge and skills
• and how the SAGE & THYME foundation level workshop can be adopted by other organisations.

13 February 2017

The SAGE & THYME team ran another successful webinar on ‘how to generate senior support for your SAGE & THYME training programme’ last week.

The webinar featured guest speakers: Sue Heatley from Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CMFT) and Vicki McLoughlin from Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust (SRFT).  It was presented by Mike Connolly and hosted by Joanne Thomas from the SAGE & THYME team.

Sue and Vicki talked about how they gained senior support and how they have continued to maintain this.  Mike then ran through a list of lessons learnt from other organisations and covered some dos and don’ts.

The recording of the webinar is now available here.

• Provide a forum/opportunity for SAGE & THYME facilitators to consider how to generate senior support
• Showcase successful influencers
• Demystify influencing activity
• Showcase influencing strategies and plans
• Present a ‘Do and Don’t’ list