Braver than Before® digital learning
Building the muscle memory for courage, one conversation at a time.
Speaking up in a clinical setting can be the difference between a near miss and a patient safety incident, yet for many healthcare professionals, it remains one of the hardest things to do.
Martha’s Rule gives patients, families and staff the right to escalate concerns. Our Courage to Speak Up digital learning builds the confidence to raise them in the moment, so issues are resolved at the point of care, saving time, reducing delay and making escalation routes work as intended.
What it is
Most speaking-up e-learning tells people why it matters.
Courage to Speak Up helps them learn how. In 90 minutes, learners understand their own stress response, learn to steady it, and practise real NHS scenarios, including what to do when they’re brushed off.
Along the way they learn to manage the discomfort that keeps so many people quiet. It’s practice for the moment that matters.
Built on award-winning NHS work
Braver than Before® is our HSJ award-winning courage-building programme. It is trusted by over 40 NHS Trusts across the UK and has helped more than 2,000 participants build the courage, language and skills needed for difficult conversations.
The Courage to Speak Up is one of its six modules, and the digital learning draws on the same evidence base, so it can reach people across your organisation, or keep the practice going for those who have taken part in a live cohort.
Explore Braver than Before →are now more likely to speak up in their organisations.
of clinical graduates feel more confident raising a patient safety concern with senior colleagues present.
feel secure raising concerns about unsafe clinical practice, against 71% nationally.
feel safe to speak up about anything that concerns them, against 60% nationally.
Alumni figures are self-reported between six months and two years after the programme; national figures are NHS Staff Survey 2025 averages across all participating NHS Trusts. The comparison is indicative, not a controlled trial.
Across the course, learners explore
Their own fears and concerns around speaking up, and the benefits, barriers, and enablers at play
How to recognise and manage their own stress response, using a tool to stay regulated and think clearly
A practical framework for structuring braver conversations
How to open the conversation and say what needs to be said
How to respond to and anticipate others’ reactions
Learners work through real-life healthcare scenarios, then plan and have their own conversations, putting the framework into practice in situations that matter to them. Throughout, videos of real people sharing how they’ve used these skills in healthcare settings bring the learning to life and help them realise they aren’t alone.
How it works
Who it is for
Healthcare professionals, and NHS organisations seeking scalable development for large or geographically dispersed workforces.
Format
Easy-to-access sections, 90 minutes in all, completed in one or several sessions.
Access
Organisation licences and individual access.
Why it works
NHS E-learning and policy teach people why speaking up matters and which routes to use.
Freedom to Speak Up Guardians give people a safe, independent route once they’ve decided to raise a concern.
This is where we come in.
Every concern a Guardian hears is one that got through. The ones that matter most are often the ones that never do, the moment someone hesitates, weighs up the risk, decides it isn’t worth it and stays quiet.
Courage to Speak Up works in that moment. We build the personal courage to speak up early, in everyday conversations, so speaking up becomes normal rather than exceptional.
We don’t replace your speaking-up arrangements. We make them work.
Participants learn to recognise their own threat response, whether that’s fight, freeze or please, and how to move towards connection instead.
Our BRAVE framework gives people a clear structure for difficult conversations, and they practise it, not just read about it.
Speaking up only works if it’s heard well. Leaders learn to respond to challenge in ways that make people want to speak up again.
We complement your Freedom to Speak Up arrangements by addressing concerns early, in everyday conversations, before they need to become formal cases.
Learners hear from real people who have spoken up: the fear they felt, how they did it, and what happened next. Seeing someone like you do it is one of the strongest drivers of courage. It counters the sense that nothing will change, which keeps so many people silent.
Talk to us
Tell us about the people you want to reach, and we will talk you through organisation licences and individual access.
Get in touch →Get in touch