Moneo writes: Giving bad news honestly

This past month has been one that I would not wish to repeat again. However, with all situations lessons can often be learnt and making time for reflective thought can lead to improvements in the future. Over the past month, a close member of my family was unexpectedly taken into hospital and sadly died two weeks later.  

Times like this are never easy and I don’t wish to dwell on the emotional side of loss, but one thing I know as I move forward is that I would certainly approach requests from staff for emotional leave far more sympathetically. It is almost impossible to estimate the emotional impact on each individual when crises arrive in their lives. This difficult time has taught me that.