Compassionate Communication Skills (Foundation Level) Online

Wednesday 3rd June 2026 9:30 am - 1:00 pm

Tuesday 8th December 2026 9:30 am - 1:00 pm

Online

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Who should attend:

Open to all internal and external patient facing staff and volunteers

Do you ever come into contact with others who are going through a difficult time?
Do you wish you knew ‘the right thing’ to say to someone coping with an illness?

Whether your role involves you working with patients, families or bereaved individuals, this course will help consider the importance of empathy within communication and reflect on possible responses and skills when faced with conversations requiring an element of compassion

Course Aims:

To introduce participants to the concept of compassionate communication so this can be applied to practice.

Objectives:

To identify communication challenges that you face in your role
To describe and give examples of what helps and hinders effective communication
To reflect on possible responses/skills
To pin point personal resilience techniques

NOTE: HCT staff

HCT staff to book their place via ‘CPD Apply’ using this link Staff Hub

Presented by

Amy Smissen

Lecturer Practitioner/ Community Occupational Therapist

Amy is a qualified Occupational Therapist with 25 years experience working in both clinical and leadership roles. With a passion for the palliative rehab approach to empower patients to self-manage Amy enjoys sharing her knowledge and skills within the team and wider audiences.

Throughout her career she has worked in a range of settings including a community learning disability team, an inpatient neurological rehab unit and a local charity providing support to people living with long-term neurological conditions.

Amy joined the Hospice of St Francis in 2023 and works 3 days a week in the Community Team, bringing her unique OT perspective to enable community patients to optimise their function and ultimately, their overall quality of life. Amy has always enjoyed facilitating therapeutic groupwork sessions, running workshops and training sessions both for patients and carers and with fellow clinicians. These skills lend themselves well to her Lecturer Practitioner role, which she took on in early 2024.

Manisha Cook

Lecturer Practitioner and Specialist Physiotherapist

The Hospice of St Francis

Manisha is a qualified physiotherapist with over 20 years’ experience working in primary and secondary healthcare settings and has been working in palliative care since 2014.

Manisha completed her Level 4 Certificate in Teaching and Education in 2021 and currently practises as a Lecturer Practitioner at The Hospice of St Francis and within Universities.
Manisha is passionate about providing holistic, patient-centred care with a special interest in long term conditions and Pulmonary Fibrosis. She is equally committed to education and professional development, sharing her clinical expertise to support and inspire multidisciplinary teams, students, and colleagues working within palliative and end-of-life care.