HSC is delighted that the Pink Ladies have provided sponsorship to allow SAGE & THYME® training to be delivered to Health and Care professionals across the Bailiwick.
This workshop teaches the communication skills required to: notice distress, hear the concerns that a person may have, and respond helpfully to them.
The evidence shows that, as health and care professionals, when we are busy, we focus on physical and practical issues to save time.
For example, if we say to a patient “How are you?” and they say “I am scared, this pain is getting worse, I can’t sleep, and I don’t know where this is heading” – we hear “pain” and “poor sleep” but don’t hear “scared” or “I don’t know where this is heading”.
A study of consultations found that the first concern raised by a patient was no more likely to be the main concern than the fourth or the fifth concern.
Sometimes as health professionals we are tempted to jump in with advice too early, without listening to the patient fully. Dealing with the first concern might take all the allocated time and mean that you never find out what the main concern is.
The SAGE & THYME model helps us to hold difficult conversations, actively listen to what is being said and empower patients to feel that they have helped find the solutions.
Practitioners from the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust developed the evidence-based model and have been in Guernsey recently to train facilitators to deliver the SAGE & THYME Foundation Level workshops.
Commenting on the importance of the workshops, Karen Leach, Service Manager, Adult Community Services said:
“The implementation of this type of communication training will help HSC to set the right tone, communicating with people at their most vulnerable. It is particularly important that this training is available across a broad spectrum of those employed in health and social care”
A Pink Ladies Spokesperson said:
“We are very happy to support HSC to train people to communicate effectively with people who are in distress. As a support group, we have examples of where communication could have been better so we support HSC’s ambition to improve care”.
The training is part of an initiative under HSC’s Care Values Framework to improve communication and compassionate care across the Bailiwick. It will be available to not just HSC employees, but also to health and social care professionals in the private and charitable sectors.