Flying not falling

This blog is dedicated to a fabulous business woman, Tara Humphrey. I have been lucky to work with Tara and to experience Tara’s business coaching; Tara works with a focus and shares with honesty what has helped her grow such a successful business. Listening to Tara on a couple of her recent podcasts made me reflect and take action, two things neatly covered in this one blog.

After listening to  share what you do  I realised that the busier I am the less I share and why consistency is the key to your success really hit home – I had the intent of regular blogs but they have been more erratic than regular.

The result: I’m sharing the first few months of independent work, showing what CFuller Consultancy has delivered and to pledging to becoming more consistent with posting.

What did I set out to do?

I set up my business with three broad aims:

·         Service analysis for teams seeking to improve EoLC delivery or prepare for CQC.

·         EoLC education.

·         Lasting Power of Attorney Consultancy.

A theme running throughout has been proactive Advance Care Planning; working independently has enabled me to grow a role in promoting Advance Care Planning finding opportunities, networks and people to work with.

The work I have completed under each of the topics is explored in more detail below.

Service Analysis

·         I have completed a Fresh Eyes service review of a large London Community Trust, supporting the team to identify gaps in care and make recommendations for improvement.

·         This work grew to another project, delivering an audit for care in the last days of life and development of a full EoLC audit programme.

·         I have been commissioned for a Hospice service review, for a team under new management and looking to prepare for their next CQC inspection.

·         The CQC inspections have started again post COVID restrictions and I have completed three inspections as a Specialist Advisor recently. Sadly, a big three-day acute inspection was cancelled at short notice, I am hoping that will be re scheduled soon.

EoLC Education

·         Working in collaboration with @SueMarsden6 we delivered a full day on EoLC and Learning Disability. We covered communication skills, DNACPR decision making, and care in the last days of life.

·         In response to a hospice request I have built a PowerPoint presentation for a DNACPR module, the Human Rights Act, most recent national policy and guidelines & legal test cases are all included.

·         In a big step out my comfort zone I was commissioned by a pharma company to produce a film on End of Life Care. This involved filming for eight hours on one of the hottest days this year, two cameras, green screen – the works. The phrase “can you be more football” haunts me – trying to replay information in a factual yet engaging style for camera is a skill I am learning.

·         Working with the same company, I had the honour of presenting at the Diabetic Professional Care conference at Olympia London. I spoke with @DocStrain about Frailty, Diabetes and EoLC to a great audience of about 350.

·         I have been signed up for two Probus talks already next year, looking forward to talking to groups about Advance Care Planning and LPAs.

·         In response to a request from an innovative hospice on line day service I provided a Zoom session on Advance Care Planning, I loved the questions and feedback from the group.

·         In another Zoom session I delivered a session for Bereavement Volunteers on Advance Care Planning.

·         Some really poignant work, possibly not work but support, has been answering calls for help on Twitter. I was nervous about responding sometimes, worried about being taken out of context mainly, but I hope I have helped. I have answered many people facing the challenges for caring for someone at home at the end of life and finding the system isn’t joining up or making sense. The responses have been overwhelming – the nurse in me is still so very proud to think I make a difference.

·         I have benefited from the excellent Real Talk train the Trainer sessions; this has also produced opportunities for collaborative working in new ventures.

Lasting Power of Attorney

·         I have completed 31 LPAs since June, working face to face and remotely. I hadn’t anticipated how successful the remote LPA work would be and it has been highly satisfying to draft documents and complete personalised signatory instructions. After working with a client locally I received a card I will treasure saying how making the LPAs brought peace of mind for him in such a challenging time.  Most of my LPA work is face to face, and a real USP of my business seems to be the flexibility in how I work with each client.

·         I am continuing to learn about LPAs, to raise awareness  of their importance and educate professionals on how to check LPAs  using blogs to share these important messages.

·         I have supported two families with guidance on making Advance Decision to Refuse Treatment It is humbling and a privilege to be involved in such Important Conversations.

·         The LPA FAQ guide has been produced after sending to a couple of user groups for feedback. I am really proud of the printed copy and it is useful to send to clients.

·         With support from a wonderful assistant I now have some  videos on the website. There has been a break in these for other priorities but these were fun to do and I hope to develop more. It was super having the voice of @DrLindaDykes in the video we made demonstrating how to talk about Advance Care Planning.

·         The Open Justice Court of Protection has been an opportunity for me to learn more about challenges to LPAs and I have attended two hearings, one involving Lasting Power of Attorney Across Borders  and one to witness what happens when LPAs go wrong. Attending court and blogging have been valuable educational experiences and I hope to attend more. I have learned so much about the Court of Protection and application of the MCA from @KitzingerCelia

·         The Digital Legacy Association  is a platform I have respected for a while and it was great to write how to assign a Lasting Power of Attorney for the  My Wishes resource. 

Proactive Advance Care Planning

·         I have been in discussion nationally and internationally about Advance Care Planning and potential projects…...watch this space. As a result I am delighted to have met with teams in Australia and  Canada and to be working with so many heroes of mine in the UK  Palliative Care World.

·         It was an honour to be part of the Dying Well: Wellbeing at the end of life conversations, and to be part of this emerging work. Clair Fisher, what can I say…your Dying Well project is challenging our notions of wellbeing while dying and I look forward to collaborating with you on more work.

·         The Waiting Room Revolution Team have been much valued and we are looking to collaborate with a podcast. Sammy, if you read this you will see the difficulty I have in summarising what I do.

·         Twitter has been an unexpected medium and I am using regularly to promote proactive Advance Care Planning.

Next Steps

So, Tara, this is me sharing what I have been doing. It has been a good process and if not read by another person it has helped me enormously to put in one space what I have done. A bonus is being able to show my Mum and dad – it will help when they say, “tell me again what you do now?”

I pledge to take on board the consistency message and blog every fortnight, to build on the collaborations made and to take a moment out to reflect on the achievements so far. I couldn’t have predicted so much of this and taking that leap of faith has been so very exciting, I could have fallen but feel I’m flying.

#AdvanceCarePlanning

 #EoLC

#THCPrimaryCare

#TaraHumphrey

If you would like to find out how I can work with you to support service improvement, EoLC education or Proactive Advance Care Planning   Contact me for an informal discussion.