Communicating with families post-death

In July 2018 NHS England published Learning from deaths: Guidance for NHS trusts on working with bereaved families and carers on behalf of the National Quality Board. This consolidates previous guidance to provide advice on how families should be supported following the death of a loved one, particularly following errors in NHS healthcare.[i]

It follows a report from the Care Quality Commission published in 2016, which identified that significant improvement was required in the way trusts engaged with families following the death of a patient.[ii]