Latest news

18 July 2016

The first ever live SAGE & THYME webinar was broadcast last week (14 July) by the SAGE & THYME Team.  It was aimed at SAGE & THYME facilitators and it covered choosing useful scenarios for rehearsals in the SAGE & THYME Foundation level workshop.

Over 50 people attended the webinar and stayed for the whole session.  Several facilitators sent the team positive feedback after the event.  A link to the webinar recording has been sent to all SAGE & THYME facilitators and key contacts.  It is also available from the trainer area of the website.

Elaine, Mike and Jo during the webinar

13 July 2016

Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust's end of life care has been rated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) as 'outstanding'.  The Trust's commitment to providing high quality end of life care, includes ensuring that all staff involved in dealing with patients and carers, have the right skills.  It therefore runs the SAGE & THYME Foundation Level workshop  as part of its training programme, to teach staff how to recognise distress, and communicate with someone who is upset or has concerns, whilst providing basic psychological support.

6 June 2016

We are launching a series of webinars to allow everyone to access updates and information on SAGE & THYME and related issues without having to leave their place of work.

The first webinar will take place on Thursday 14 July, 2:00-2:45pm on choosing useful scenarios.  To find out the dates of the other webinars planned and to book a place, please click here.

12 May 2016

We are pleased to launch the new SAGE & THYME twitter account  @SAGEandTHYME_  which we hope will be a platform for communication and for sharing relevant information.  We hope that many of you choose to follow us!

12 May 2016

The Royal College of Physicians 'End of Life Care Audit - Dying in Hospital: Nation report for England 2016', published on 30 March 2016, highlights how important it is for staff involved in care of the dying to have: good communication skills; the ability to listen to patients' concerns; and the skills to conduct advance care planning.

4 April 2016

The latest research on the SAGE & THYME Foundation Level workshop, conducted by the University of Manchester in collaboration with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, will be presented at the NET2016 conference in Cambridge on 6-8 September 2016.

The research focuses on the barriers and facilitators to implementing a communication skills model in practice and bridging the theory practice gap.

15 February 2016

Mike Connolly will be presenting an abstract at the RCN Education Forum National Conference on Tues 15 March 2016 (International Centre in Telford) on 'teaching foundation level communication skills using ‘SAGE & THYME’ in clinical practice and in the nursing curriculum'.

The presentation will be delivered at 12:30pm (concurrent session 1.3.4) and Joanne Thomas from the team will also be attending, along with Mike, to answer any questions.

If you're attending this conference, please come and see us in our session.

12 January 2015

A review on end of life care services, entitled 'Better Endings', has been published by the National Institue for Health Research (NIHR) Dissemination Centre (Dec 2015).

The review considers how patients at the end of their lives should receive the right care, at the right time and in the right place.

Research has shown that whilst good care of dying patients includes complying with the patient's wishes, an advanced care plan (ACP) is not always completed for each patient.  One reason for this is that staff can find it difficult to initiate such discussions.

The SAGE & THYME ACP workshop teaches healthcare professionals how to open a discussion about advance care planning and also manage any concerns that a patient may have, to ensure that their patients receive the right care, at the right time and in the right place.

26 November 2015

The SAGE & THYME programme has been shortlisted for the Bionow Healthcare Project of the Year award.

Mike Connolly will be attending the prestigious Bionow Annual Awards Dinner at The Mere Golf Resort & Spa (in Mere, Cheshire) tonight.

For more information, click here.

14 September 2015

The NHS Confederation has published an article on the 'listening revolution', written by Mike Connolly, the lead trainer for SAGE & THYME, see: http://www.nhsconfed.org/blog.

In the blog, Mike reflects on how important it is for busy NHS staff to have the skills to listen to patients, despite the pressures that staff are currently facing.

19 August 2015

Bookings are now being taken for our annual conference and training update, taking place on Tues 24 Nov 2015, in Manchester.

The conference is always a popular event with SAGE & THYME facilitators and others interested in learning more about the SAGE & THYME training.

The early bird fee of £60 per delegate is available until 30 September 2015 - the full fee charged from 1 October 2015 will be £80 per delegate.

Please click here for more information and to view the draft programme and booking form.

16 July 2015

For the first time, UHSM will be running SAGE & THYME Foundation Level workshops and SATFAC courses in Lumen Rooms in London (near Euston station).

In the past, UHSM has only run workshops and courses outside of Manchester for customers who could fill all the spaces.  But, in response to customer demand, UHSM is trialling running training, in October and November, that any customers can access.

For the date of the SAGE & THYME Foundation Level workshops click here and for the SATFAC course dates click here.