Case Study:
Compassionate Conversations for Difficult Situations

A Collaboration with NHS England

Helping NHS Colleagues to handle difficult situations with compassion

A concerning reality for healthcare professionals is the level of violence, abuse, and threatening behaviour they must deal with regularly. With negative experiences on the rise, there was a clear need for a training intervention bespoke to the realities of working in the NHS to support staff in their everyday roles. With staff wellbeing at the intervention's core, increasing staff confidence and competence for dealing with these negative experiences were training priorities.

Starting in January 2022, this training programme has achieved a 95% satisfaction score to date, with 93% of participants telling us they would recommend it to their colleagues. More than that, participants experienced an average increase of 26.6% in their confidence in handling difficult conversations with compassion before and after their training.

So how was this confidence boost achieved?

For more than 9000 participants from Primary and Secondary Care throughout England, training sessions included getting involved in extensive discussions about patient interaction, skills practice sessions, and knowledge-sharing exercises relating to the skills needed to better handle difficult conversations with compassion.

escalla designed training materials and skills practice exercises for relevance to the real-life roles of participants', with 92.6% of participants telling us that the course content was useful in their everyday roles.

Facilitated by knowledgeable escalla trainers with many years of training expertise, participants told us they felt safe, supported, and engaged with the materials in their training sessions. In addition, 95% of participants told us that the course met the learning aims and objectives, clearly supported by this open, active and communicative training environment.

Finally, and most importantly, participants told us they had an increased understanding of compassion fatigue and their own wellbeing and felt better equipped to support valued colleagues with wellbeing concerns.

View the full 'Handling Difficult Situations' Training Programme Evaluation below:

Compassionate Conversations for Difficult Situations: Full Case Study

See full version

Click to view

The Challenge

Recent data from the British Medical Association and the 2021 NHS Staff Survey continues to highlight alarming levels of threatening behaviour, violence, and verbal abuse directed at NHS staff, including doctors, nurses, receptionists, and healthcare assistants. This trend has worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic, with frontline staff frequently facing aggressive behaviour. The NHS People Promise, which focuses on creating safe and healthy environments, reflects these concerns.

NHS England commissioned escalla to design and deliver a comprehensive training programme to help staff develop the skills needed to handle these difficult situations with compassion while safeguarding their own wellbeing.

Meeting the Challenge

After extensive consultation with NHS staff and the National Health and Wellbeing Team at NHS England, in 2022 escalla created the Compassionate Conversations initiative. The programme progressed through several phases, with Phase 3 focusing on delivering refined and enhanced training based on participant feedback and ongoing assessment.

This training, now reaching over 9,000 primary and secondary care professionals, focused on key techniques such as active listening, emotional intelligence, and self-care. By addressing compassion fatigue, the programme fostered a more inclusive and compassionate workplace culture.

The training was highly practical, with a focus on real-world application. Participants practised handling difficult conversations using skills and tactics tailored to challenges they frequently face. More than 93% of participants expressed satisfaction, believing these skills would be valuable in their daily work.

Participant Wellbeing and Confidence

Supporting staff wellbeing was a crucial part of the programme. After training, participants reported high confidence (8.7 out of 10) in understanding their own mental health and wellbeing, with a slightly higher score (8.8 out of 10) for knowing how to support colleagues. These improvements were sustained weeks after the training.

Outcomes and Impact

The programme's effectiveness was measured through detailed evaluations. Over 95% of participants rated the training as excellent or very good, surpassing the initial key performance indicators of 70%. The training achieved a 24.7% increase in participants' confidence in handling difficult situations compassionately, and 87% maintained this confidence in follow-up assessments.

The ongoing Phase 3 of the initiative is focused on continuous improvements, incorporating participant feedback and expanding the training's reach to ensure sustained long-term impact.

This initiative made a clear and lasting impact, helping staff feel more competent, confident, and supported in managing difficult conversations at work

SIGN IN YOUR ACCOUNT TO HAVE ACCESS TO DIFFERENT FEATURES

FORGOT YOUR DETAILS?

Case Study: Compassionate Conversations for Difficult Situations

A Collaboration with NHS England

Helping NHS Colleagues to handle difficult situations with compassion

So how was this confidence boost achieved?

escalla designed training materials and skills practice exercises for relevance to the real-life roles of participants', with 92.6% of participants telling us that the course content was useful in their everyday roles.

Finally, and most importantly, participants told us they had an increased understanding of compassion fatigue and their own wellbeing and felt better equipped to support valued colleagues with wellbeing concerns.