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Course length
3-hour course
CPD points
3 CPD points
Module leader

CPD certified, by the CPD Certification Service

Breaking bad news is a highly interactive, solution-focused one-day course on this often forgotten subject. It provides techniques, tools and tips to ensure you are well-equipped ahead of the conversation, in the moment, and afterwards.

Who is this course suitable for?

  • Applicable to all departments and Multi-disciplinary teams

Course objectives

This course will:

  • Improve your understanding of typical reactions to bad news

  • Look at how to depersonalise

  • Learn how to manage denial, defensiveness and aggressive behaviour 

  • Explore the importance of empathic listening 

  • Introduce a Transactional Analysis framework to manage conversations

  • Discover how to help others cope with bad news without taking it on ourselves

Course testimonials

It was a great course, very well presented under COVID-19 circumstances

Simina Ioana Feier
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Good course with a focus on understanding a patient’s expectation from their doctor

Adeel Anwar
Consultant Urological Surgeon
Bradford Teaching Hospitals and NHS Trust

A useful course that shows it’s alright to feel under pressure, and also to be able to say you don’t have all the answers. It’s important to be honest and clear, and to feel for the patient and the relatives

Moushumi Somadder
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

I would suggest more courses like this should be offered. It was helpful to realise I was not the only one who struggled with the bad news, and I found it particularly helpful that we were worked through process in a practical manner.

Adeyinka Laoye
Urology Clinical Fellow
Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Trust

This webinar was very helpful in building an approach to having difficult discussions with patients, especially discussions around unexpected terminal illness.

More courses like this should be offered. It was helpful to realise I was not the only one who struggled with the bad news, and I found it particularly helpful that we worked through the process in a practical manner

Adeyinka Laoye
Urology Clinical Fellow
Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Trust