Families struggling with bereavement offered free counselling for the first time

Families struggling to cope with bereavement are being offered free counselling for the first time through a specialist Swansea Bay team.

The Care After Death service was set up in 2022 and provides immediate support for families who have lost loved ones. This support is varied in nature.

Previously, the team was only able to signpost and support families needing counselling with referral into private providers.

Now that has changed, with Care After Death linking with Platfform Wellbeing, a Welsh charity for mental health and social change, to offer counselling free of charge for Swansea Bay families and patients.

Main photo above shows the Care After Death team. (L-r): service manager Kimberley Hampton-Evans; Care After Death support officers Joe Stratford, Donna Richards, Lisa Durk and Tina Edwards; Care After Death support lead Ceri Wyatt; Care After Death support officer Pierce Hallett-James.

Care After Death is Swansea Bay’s bereavement support service, which speaks to families soon after their loss.

Service manager Kimberley Hampton-Evans said: “We help them with all the practicalities around death certification, the role of the Medical Examiner, the role of the coroner, and all the practical things a family has to consider in the very early days following the death of their loved one.

“We offer call-backs and check-ins, to see how someone is doing, especially after the funeral has taken place, because that is the time when a lot of things can change for a family.

“The well-wishers stop calling, everyone goes back to work, all the practical things you’ve been doing over the last couple of weeks are mostly done. But your grief hasn’t gone anywhere.

“And it’s at that point that families can start thinking about how they are going to cope, what their life is going to look like now.”

Swansea Bay has a patient-centred approach to care, which in this case extends to the families of the deceased too.

Although trained in bereavement support, the team are not counsellors. They already work closely with excellent specialist local bereavement support providers, such as the Jac Lewis Foundation and 2Wish Cymru, both of which provide vital services in the community.

Kimberley (pictured) said: “These fantastic services provide specific specialist support for many families following a sudden or unexpected death.

“But, sometimes, for some families who do not fit specialist criteria, the only option can be seeking out private bereavement counselling, which obviously comes at a cost.

“I’m really pleased to say that, with the help of our procurement team, we have secured a contract for a Swansea Bay-specific bereavement counselling service.

“It is going to be provided by Platfform, who are absolutely fantastic. Platfform work with people who are experiencing challenges with their mental health, and with communities who want to create a greater sense of connection, ownership and wellbeing in the places that they live.

“As a part of this initiative, they offer bereavement counselling sessions and group sessions and have a dedicated referral system set up, working closely with Care After Death.

“Families will deal with us. We’ll help them with the referral form. We’ll send everything in for them.

“It means our families in Swansea Bay, or those families whose loved one dies in Swansea Bay, won’t have to find out what is out there for themselves or seek out support at a time which is already difficult.

“We manage the whole process for them in Care After Death and get them the counselling they need, free of charge.

“That’s a really big step forward for us. It's really good news because it means we can now offer even more bereavement support services around us who can look after families if they need that extra support.”

Meanwhile, Swansea Bay University Health Board, along with other organisations across Wales, has signed up for the Wales-wide Charter for Families Bereaved by Public Tragedy.

The charter calls for a cultural shift in the way public bodies engage with bereaved families, ensuring the lessons of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster and its aftermath were learnt.

Welsh Government, police forces, fire services, health boards and the Welsh Ambulance Service, have all signed up to support bereaved families and the community in the aftermath of a major incident.

It was signed on behalf of Swansea Bay by health board Chief Executive Officer Abi Harris.

She said: “There are six commitments in the charter, which we are implementing – but we’re actually going one step further.

“We feel it should not just be for families bereaved by public tragedy. It should be for all bereaved families.

“Every death is a tragedy, and bereaved families deserve to be treated with dignity and respect and with honesty and transparency anyway.”