Patient safety: Effectively communicating with families and carers | Our blog

We know that families and carers play a crucial part in the care of those facing mental health difficulties in our hospitals and services. While not all patients may want their information to be shared, for those that do, it can be a helpful tool. For our staff, sharing timely and appropriate information, the progress, treatment and wellbeing of our service users with their families and carers is critical for building trust and supporting recovery.  

On top of wanting to know about key updates with their loved ones, families and carers often hold vital insights into a person’s history, daily routines, triggers and coping strategies.  

Why sharing information impacts patient safety 

Sharing information matters for several reasons that directly impact patient safety, including:  

How to best communicate with families and carers  

Every family and loved one will want to be communicated with differently and their needs will differ drastically. There is no one size fits all approach, but we can ensure we are discussing with them what would work best for them during these times.  

We spoke to Kate Lillywhite, Chief Strategy Officer who shared her thoughts on how best to keep families and carers up to date with their loved ones’ care in a way that is respectful of both parties wishes and preferences. 

Kate said: “It all comes down to living our commitments and doing what we say we are going to do. If a family member asks us to keep them up to date with changes, we should ensure we do this in a format that works for them. We aren’t expected to guess communication preferences, but we are expected to speak with the families and carers of the people who use our services to find out this information and deliver it effectively.”  

Balancing confidentiality and information sharing when disclosing risk  

Not all our service users consent to sharing their medical information with their families and carers but there are a few specific instances where we would breach this confidentiality to mitigate any risks to the individual.  

Our Caldicott Guardian Dr Robert Harland spoke at our recent World Suicide Prevention Day about the difficulties some may face while deciding to breach confidentiality.  

He said: “We have a duty to protect privacy, but we also have a second duty in the caldicott principles to share information, when we need to keep people safe. What we should aim for is to be proportionate so, it comes down to clinical and ethical judgement. You are never on your own with these difficult decisions and if you find yourself in these situations, you can speak to your Caldicott Guardian.” 

For staff: Communicating with families and carers overseas 

A recent investigation around the death of a patient has highlighted a need for our communication efforts to be increased. One of the key learnings from this investigation was around improving our communication with family and carers who are based overseas.  

Many staff will know how to do this and do it often but if you are unfamiliar or need a refresher, the process is as follows:  

If you are ever in doubt or confused about communicating with patients, please speak to your line manager, service director or contact 0203 228 6000. The Trust operates a 24/7/365 Switchboard service. 

Response to the incident on wards 

Following the incident, the interim ward manager has confirmed that information on how staff can make international phone calls is clearly displayed within clinical areas and nursing stations. In addition, a local workplace induction checklist for all staff has now been updated with an explanation on how to make these calls.  

Our hope is for this to be cascaded and implemented across all wards in our four hospital sites. Working together, we can make our Trust a safer place to both work and receive care.  

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