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Active Bystander: 
Empowering Change in Healthcare

Active Bystander/CSL Hybrid Training
with Joe Farmer could bring a whole new way to move forward together as a team.

Why Active Bystander Training Matters

In high-pressure healthcare environments, inappropriate behaviours—ranging from microaggressions to overt harassment—can become normalised, undermining team cohesion and patient safety. Active Bystander training equips healthcare professionals with the skills to recognise and address such behaviours constructively, fostering a culture of respect and inclusion.

A 2023 study by the University of Cambridge revealed that fewer than 1 in 5 NHS Trusts in England offer Active Bystander training[1], despite its proven effectiveness in addressing workplace incivility, microaggressions and even sexual harassment.

What the hybrid sessions can include when integrating this with the Civility Saves Lives Message

At Civility Saves Lives, we believe that fostering a culture of civility is fundamental to patient safety and staff well-being. Active Bystander training complements our mission by providing actionable tools to address incivility and promote positive behaviours in healthcare settings[3].

 

These sessions therefore emphasise the importance of understanding the rudeness and where it might come from, connecting this to the vital reasons why the rudeness or incivility should not be acceptable, to then give usable skills to help implement more seamlessly.

How we do that:

  • Overview of the Civility Message

  • Perspective training for sources of rudeness and reasons for differences in perception of it

  • Core strategies of Active Bystander Approach

  • Option of scenario based learning and role-play implementation

  • Powerful approaches to phrasing and assertiveness 

  • Consideration of Calling In vs Calling Out techniques

Core Strategies of the Active Bystander Approach

The training introduces practical techniques to intervene safely and effectively. This may be represented as the 4 or 5D's:

  • Direct: Address the behaviour immediately and calmly.

  • Distract: Defuse the situation by redirecting attention.

  • Delegate: Seek assistance from colleagues or supervisors.

  • Delay: Check in with the affected individual after the incident.

  • Document: Make a note of what happened 

 

Or as I frame it; 3A's:

  • Act Now or Later

  • Approach the perpetrator or Approach the recipient

  • Ally support

 

These strategies are designed to empower staff to act without escalating situations, reinforcing a supportive workplace culture[2].

3A's of Active Bystander Approach

Benefits for Healthcare Teams

Implementing Active Bystander training can lead to:

  • Empowerment of staff to intervene safely and productively[4]

  • Reduced incidents of workplace harassment and bullying.

  • Improved staff morale and retention.

  • Better patient outcomes through a more respectful care environment.

Request your tailored training now with Joe

Interested in bringing Active Bystander training to your organisation? We offer tailored sessions for NHS Trusts and healthcare providers that interlink the powerful tools of Active Bystander approaches with the core Civility Message. Contact us to learn more about our programmes and how they can benefit your team.

Civility Saves Lives is a self funded, collaborative project with a mission to promote positive behaviours and share the evidence base around positive and negative behaviours

Get in touch to request us

Want us to come and present or be a key note speaker or run a workshop; get in touch and give us the details.

Chris, Joe, or one of the team may be able to help. Give us the date, time and request or what you are looking for and we will look to reply in due course (please bear with us). 

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