The DICES® System for Risk Assessment and Management, course feedback.
The Association for Psychological Therapies prides itself on the written feedback we receive for our courses. Below is just some of the great reviews 'The DICES® System for Risk Assessment and Management' course has received.
"I think everyone involved in care delivery should attend. I feel better equipped in continuing with risk assessment."
Alison Donald, Support Worker
"Fantastic course, extremely useful information and assessment and management tools that will not only inform my practice but will also ensure care delivery is effective and meaningful."
Michelle Dwyer, Community Nurse
"Totally invaluable course."
John Turner, CSW
"I have attended APT courses before and find them highly professional and of a high standard."
Sue Staff, CBT Therapist
"DICES is brilliantly simple to use but a very effective tool as a means of assessing and managing risk without being over complicated."
Steve Barber, Substance Misuse Practitioner
"An excellent course. Learned a huge amount. DICES is an incredibly useful approach to risk assessment and management."
Ruth Mills, Consultant Clinical Psychologist
"Massively increased my knowledge in risk assessment and management, how to do them and why it is important there is a process like DICES®. I feel 100% more confident in doing risk assessment and management plans now."
Rachel Preston, Assistant Practitioner
"DICES is a brilliant framework to assess and manage risk."
O. Phillips, Social Worker
"Thoroughly enjoyed the course. I feel empowered within a useable framework."
Deborah Gihawi, Social Worker
"This is my first time ever to study in-depth about risk assessment and management. It is a great honour to be part of the course as the knowledge I gained will be used in practice."
John Kasensa, Clinical Support Worker
"I would recommend this course to anyone working within mental health."
Ryan Chivens, Clinical Support Worker
"I found the course extremely valuable for my learning and current work environment. I have real interest in risk and risk management. This is a thorough and easily applicable way of assessing and managing risk."
Karlee Jo Davies, Staff Nurse (Mental Health)
"This was a very relevant course and wish I had done it sooner! ... I will be able to use daily in practice for the benefit of myself, patients and whoever else involved in care."
Sarah Flowers, Primary Care LW
"The best and most relevant course I have attended in many years. The presenter was engaging, patient and very helpful. I feel confident that I will be able to use what I have learned to make confident and informed decisions for my clients and myself. I feel better equipped to assist my non trained colleagues with difficult clients. A fantastic course and tutor."
Aideen McBride, CPN
"I feel this course will empower me to deliver care that is more risk aware and I now have more confidence to challenge poor risk assessment. Thank you."
Michelle Sheridan, Assistant Practitioner
"This is some of the best, most relevant training that I have been on - would highly recommend!!"
Clinical Psychologist
"I feel this is one of the most beneficial courses which will impact on my practice. Feels reassuring to have a framework for risk management"
Jane Wigmore, Social Worker
"The course was well presented, engaging and comprehensive. More relevant to my role than other risk assessment/performance-management-training.html training ... Superb!"
Robert Parkes, Trainee HI Worker
"I thought the course was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed the three days. I found it to be very thought provoking and I have lots of information to take back to the service. This will help me to look at my assessments differently, offering more clarity. Thank you for a fantastic 3 days."
Ben Shaw, Physiotherapist
"An excellent course. Very inspiring and thought provoking. I am always keen to improve and enhance my practice, to manage and reduce risk where possible. I have also learnt and appreciated the value of peer support and supervision."
Jadean Eve, Shared Care Substance Misuse Nurse
"Thoroughly educational and interesting training that enabled some interesting discussion. I now feel better equipped to work with risk and ask relevant questions."
David Mortimore, HI Trainee CBT
"This is the most interactive and relevant risk training that I have attended. I will use it regularly in practice."
Emilia Deakin, Occupational Therapist
"I haven't enjoyed learning for a long time and I believe the tutor made something that could have been a chore into a fun and informative course. I felt relaxed and comfortable and didn't even realize I was learning. Brilliant. I recommend that all staff would benefit from this course."
Jan Ridall Assistant Practitioner
"I have been to many courses and the tutor was one of the best ones I have had. She delivered the course with a high degree of professionalism and great humanity."
Dr Robert Dudas, Consultant Psychiatrist
"Superbly presented course that culminated in a significant increase in my confidence to be able to both accurately assess and intervene to manage multiple risk factors. I go home with renewed enthusiasm for my job!"
John Davies, Clinical Psychologist
"An excellent course which makes risk assessment more 'friendly' to use, enables clarification of things chosen and rationale of why not chosen. A system which assists my practice and not just another paper exercise."
Lesley Bradshaw, RMN
"Thank you so much. The most informative, knowledgable training I have had to date. I am now confident I will deal with risk appropriately."
Denise McDermott, THIT
"If only all training was this good ... learning and absorption would be so much easier, fun and memorable. Than you for the most educational day."
Halima Sufi, THIT
"This lecture was brilliant! I have done risk training before so many times but today was the best! It was very informative and entertaining and the presenter was really good at keeping everybody engaged. Very good training day indeed!"
Larisza Marks, THIT
"This has been by far the best training and most useful training I've been on."
Danielle Brooks, Care Coordinator
"The best risk assessment course I have ever attended. The tools were precise and relevant to my practice. The management aspect was well explained and the practical examples were very good and informative."
John Kainesie, Clinical Specialist
"In short, fantastic! Would highly recommend."
Luisa Barclay, Senior Substance Misuse Practitioner
"I have undergone many risk management trainings and this was by far the most informative, interesting and well presented. I will definitely recommend to other organizations I work for."
Holly North, Deputy Manager
"Really well presented by the tutor. I am really pleased to have a tool I can use for on-going risk assessment work. This training should be mandatory."
Louise Vincent, Mental Health Social Worker
"I cannot think of anything that could improve the quality of this presentation."
Tracy Hatfield, Staff Nurse
"A very thorough and comprehensively presented training day which is exceptionally relevant to my role."
Amanda Hall, Clinical Psychologist
"This was an excellent training event delivered by someone who is very knowledgeable, passionate and experienced."
Claire Cooke, CBT Therapist
"I recommended it to someone the other day. I found myself saying it had given me real confidence, and was the best risk assessment and management training I'd had in over 20 years."
Jennifer Smith (Feedback taken 4 months after the course)
"I now feel more confident managing risks. It has provided me with a solid foundation to assess risk, using fixed and fluid factors and manage them utilising clinical reasoning. Before this course I did not feel competent or assertive in risk management. Thank you."
Rachel Colley, OT
"It was lovely to encounter the 'common sense' element running through the course as this is often in short supply. The course makes you apply what you learn which is excellent, so you can 'take it home' and carry on applying when you are back at work."
Hubert Vander Horst, Consultant Clinical Psychologist
"DICES is a good approach to risk management. I feel better equipped to assess risk now."
Course Delegate
"I always come away from an APT Course feeling better informed, and more competent to work with complex clients."
Coleen Kingston (Feedback taken 4 months after the course)
"I have no criticisms about this course ... Using DICES within our organization will be of huge benefit."
Kathleen O'Connor, Care Worker / Coordinator
"I have thoroughly enjoyed the course and in particular the tutors approach to our learning. His knowledge and clinical examples as well as sharing personal experiences were boundless and brought the learning to life. I have been given lots of food for thought and feel confident that I will use the DICES regularly. Making active use of the paperwork was very useful and removed the mystery from them. I shall be definitely requesting we do more APT training in the future. Thank you very much."
Becky Jury, Specialist YPOS Practitioner
"I thoroughly enjoyed the course, not only the content but mainly the way it was presented. I found the tutor to be the most interesting, dynamic, entertaining, professional, experienced lecturer I have ever had the fortune to be taught by!"
Gemma Wallis, CAMHS Nurse
"A very informative course. Relevant to my role in mental health crisis team, and as a result feel I have a framework to produce a thorough, relevant plan with the confidence to be able to evidence why!"
Sarah Canham, Mental Health Nurse
"I have found this course very informative. It has been very well presented and all the materials were excellent. I am very glad hat I was able to do this course and would highly recommend it. One of the best training courses I have attended. Thank you."
Kimjeet Randhawa, HI Therapist
"This was highly useful and informative. The DICES plan for risk management helps to give structure and to articulate our risk management process and shows the importance of identifying if there is a significant risk."
Genevieve Bagge, IAPT High Intensity Therapist
"Very clearly explained and delivered. Enjoyable and informative 2 day training. Good explanation of course content. Good discussion times allowed. Very good trainer - would consider APT training again due to quality of this course delivery and outcome."
John Formby, Care Coordinator
"Excellent course - a much simpler but comprehensive system for risk assessment than the one currently used at my place of work. I think sharing your risk management plan is helpful providing safeguard for both patients and staff."
Helen Bluff, Care Coordinator
"Excellent course. Very interesting. The use of examples of case studies was 1) fascinating and 2) a highly valuable learning resource. I loved that members of the group weren't 'picked on', it made me feel at ease and more keen on contributing to group discussions - as this usually makes me want to hide!! The statistical data given as part of the course was fascinating. Thoroughly enjoyed the course - thank you."
Alysia Adcock, Physiotherapist
"Very good course. Has helped me massively with risk management. Materials given are a high standard and will help me with future practice."
Liz Tomlinson, RMN
"A very useful course. Has helped me to look at caseload and consider different options for management from those I had previously looked at. Enabled me to consider the full range of risks to patients and what is important to look out for as markers of those risks. Very knowledgeable presenter."
Alison Warnock, Speech and Language Therapist
"Excellent course - a much simpler but comprehensive system for risk assessment than the one currently used at my place of work."
Helen Bluff, Care Coordinator
"I would recommend this training to anyone in the therapy world."
Course Delegate
"I can admit with confidence, it was one of the best in-house training I have received in a long time. Very beneficial to the job I currently do."
Marta Skrzypiec, Psychological Therapist
"One of the best courses I have ever done in my life."
Ebin Ephrem, Social Worker
"A course I would recommend a s a must."
Susan Braithwaite, Team Leader
"One of the best training courses I have attended. The content and knowledge of the course was excellent and also real life examples added to the delivery."
Lisa Barry, Social Care Worker
"The training was very interesting. I now feel more confident and aware when completing risk assessments. All I can say is it was excellent."
Lorraine Fogarty, SCW
"I think this is a brilliant course and so relevant to our facility. It will bring a new concept to decision making within each unit and empower the team."
Serena Zselemi, Care Staff
"An excellent training course ... One, if not the best training pieces I have attended in 10 years in Social Care."
Peter Leggett, Care Staff
"For the first time in ages a course that actually has a direct bearing on patient care."
Stephanie Trewick, S/N
"Really enjoyed the course. content was made relevant to our work area with multiple examples of practice given which were very useful. The positive approach to balancing risks with quality of life was both refreshing and inspiring, as was the tutor whose experience, knowledge and person centred approach made attending the course a privilege."
Claire Wagstaff, Ward Manager
"I will recommend this course/training to my colleagues. It will definitely improve practise for me and for them. It is a must have!"
Mary Edwurugwu, Deputy Ward Manager
"One of the best courses I have ever attended ... I can never remember a course where I have looked forward to coming everyday - excellent."
Marie Penman, Social Worker
"Thank you for making what initially appeared to be a dry topic an exciting adventure."
Loraine Blount, Nurse
"Excellent course. I have improved my understanding on risk assessment and felt that I have the forms/tools which will enhance my current assessments. The use of case studies and small group discussions was extremely useful."
Karen Staff, CMHN
"Best course I have ever attended."
Clara Pickles, Social Worker
"A good course is one that leaves you considering your practice and how you would want to change - today has been that type of course."
Kaye Bowers, Community Mental Health Nurse
"This is a very good detailed risk assessment every Trust should be encouraged to work with."
Course Delegate
"Although I have been employed with mental health services for a number of years, I have found the course helpful in refocusing the way in which I undertake risk assessment."
Jim Minshull, SCCO
"Overall, the training was 100% perfect."
Samuel Adu-Gyamfi, Staff Nurse
"The course is a fantastic tool to use in Risk Assessment. It is simple to understand and easy to implement."
Sue Creshan, Clinical Support Worker
"Really enjoyed the course, it's relevance will have a significant impact on my current and future practice ... The knowledge Keith has is extraordinary and he really gave the course depth, experience and humor in what can be a very morose topic at times."
Ian Leishman, PT Intensive Support Team
"I will be more confident in assessing and managing risk in the futures as a result of this course. Thank you."
R Carrington, Assistant Psychologist
"This was a very useful follow up course. I found the 3-day course extremely beneficial 3 years ago and am surprised at how much this 1-day course has brought issues to the fore. I will now feel able to hone my practice further. The presenter was very engaging and enabled open discussion within group which was useful."
Heather Wells, Clinical Psychologist (Refresher Day)
"I have thoroughly enjoyed the course. I have found it extremely relevant to my practice, and feel it can be tailored to individual client needs. It has been extremely well presented with the opportunity to fully participate in all aspects of the training."
Catherine Jones, Substance Misuse Practitioner
"I feel this training was very beneficial to me in my line of work. I will be using the risk assessment immediately."
Course Delegate
"Very good training – would consider APT Training again due to quality of this course delivery and outcome."
John Formby, Care Coordinator
"Have already completed this course in Ireland and found it invaluable, the system is quick, covers all essentials, provides a picture from which to formulate, and develop plans for the young people with whom I work."
Noreen Carry (Response to a DICES marketing email)
"I really enjoyed and appreciated this training. We should be required to have it much earlier in our jobs as it is so crucial to our jobs. The tutor was excellent, engaging and able to get us to participate and think for ourselves."
Sarah Kelly, Care Coordinator
"It is the best/most appropriate form of risk assessment training I have been able to access so far."
Claire Elliot, Care Manager Assistant
"I have to say that I did not have high expectations of this course, not having any formal risk assessment training before. How wrong can you be! This course has been an absolute joy to be part of … This is one of the most useful training events I have done. Many thanks."
Colin Tulloch, Social Care Worker
"Very worthwhile training. Will be encouraging colleagues to attend future training dates. The length of training felt to be just right. Course facilitator presented material very well, with thankfully a touch of humor. I would certainly be interested in further courses from APT."
Libby Morrison, Senior Psychological Therapist
"I always feel I have achieved a level of learning and development by doing an APT course. The tutors are supportive and constructive and it is almost like 'professional therapy'."
Marie Glynn, Staff Nursing (Refresher Day)
"I would recommend it to any of my colleagues or other services who are involved in mental health."
Peter Bullard, Trainee Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner
"The presentation was exquisite."
Daniel Bello-Algbirio, Support Worker
"I found the course very educative and empowering towards the delivery of good practice for patients. It has given me more confidence than before on how to assess and manage risk situations. I will recommend that all nursing staff are enrolled to do this course."
Umar Kamara, RMN
"I thought it was a clear, well thought out, dynamic 2-day training program. I feel it has helped me think in a more creative way about risk and managing risk."
Rosa Suddards, Clinical Nurse Specialist Trainee
"What puts this training ahead of most other training I have attended is that I am able to take away a practical tool that I will be able to use in practice immediately."
Guy Cowen, Social Worker
"Thoroughly enjoyable and engaging. It was possibly the first course that was delivered by an 'on the ground' expert who knows his subject inside out. A course very relevant to the work I do. I look forward to trying future APT courses."
Renate Andrews, Youth Counseling Coordinator
"The course is highly informative and educative. It is relevant to my clinical practice on the ward and would go a long way in improving my practice."
Francis Adegbola, HCA
"A must for all mental health professionals."
Patricia Cooke, Course Delegate
"As with a previous APT course I have attended, this provided a comprehensive thorough guide to Risk Management. It was well presented and I feel much better prepared to assess and manage risk in my area of work. Thank you."
Nick Ritchie, GP Liaison Nurse
"The most relevant and useful training that I have ever attended in a very long time. I aim to have the rest of the team attend it."
Melvin Jambawo, Team Manager
"A very well organized and presented training by APT. I would highly recommend all divisions to attend this training as I found it very relevant and useful to my day to day work."
Course Delegate
"This course should be mandatory for any staff working in mental health and associated areas."
Chartered Psychologist
"Another excellently presented and informative course – which has given me the tools to offer a better service and look after myself in my day-to-day work. Very, very useful booklet provided."
Gurpreet Bhambra, Activity Coordinator
"The need for this course cannot be overemphasized … very well worth it."
Mercy Rowland, HCA
"Thank you. I will return to my role as a mental health social worker in a CMHT feeling much more confident in both assessing and managing risk, and particularly in how I record assessments and management plans."
Clinton Warner, Social Worker
"Excellent content which was exceptionally presented. I will be recommending to members of my team who have not attended this course to book themselves on as soon as possible."
Chris Drinkall, Physiotherapist
"This should be mandatory. I have found it to be most educational and beneficial in every way. Generally this course has empowered me to go back into my place of work with the knowledge newly gained to make a significantly effective difference to my practice."
Course Delegate
"DICES will be an invaluable clinical tool."
M White, Clinical Psychologist
"I would definitely recommend it as I feel more confident in doing risk assessments and also the management which I feel I never knew/learnt before."
Emily Kinyanjui, Staff Nurse
"The most enjoyable training I've had. Found the trainer brought the training to life with real life experiences and stories."
Michelle Toll, Substance Misuse Worker
"I now look forward to putting my new skills into practice and sharing this information with my colleagues. Will definitely recommend this particular course to others. Thank you very much."
Tricia Doble, CPN
"This was the most interesting and well presented training I have ever attended. The tutor was helpful, pleasant and above all presented in a fantastic way. I have no criticisms at all."
Course Delegate
"First time in years I have enjoyed a course where the tutor used layman terns. Clear and well explained. The material in the course I will take back to my workplace which will help me and my colleagues to fill out the face risk assessment forms without sadness or anxiety! Some useful information to pass on to other peers and colleagues – I will advise other colleagues to attend this course."
Christine Submit, Staff Nurse
"Very useful resource. I will definitely implement it in my future work where possible and recommend the course to my colleagues."
Joanne Spaull, Graduate Mental Health Worker
"DICES forms provide an excellent tool, to assist with assessing and managing risk. They provide lots of prompts/questions – fluid and fixed, encouraging detailed and well considered risk assessments."
Course Delegate
"I came with many years experience and a variety of (possibly all) major settings, completing assessments over all these years and developing what I found to be an eclectic assessment tool … However, I have never attended a specific course on risk assessment. Not only did I discover that my practice did work alongside the theory; which was good to learn but mainly I found new questions to add and the assessment tools were the most concise and useful I have come across. I hope to be able to use them in the future and would feel confident in advising others to use them."
Janet Walsh. CPN
"Positive and constructive course on a challenging subject. Relevant to everyday practice."
Brian Rafferty. Social Worker
"A very worthwhile course and very related to my work. Incredibly well presented – kept all of the group interested and related all aspects to our places of work. Excellent course."
Gemma Clark. Clinical Nurse Specialist
"Course very enjoyable and informative. Will definitely enhance my current role."
Sue Barrett. CMHN
"The course proved to be informative, enhancing safe practice and improve quality of care for the clients. Environment was extremely pleasant and the lectures were of great interest."
Shirly Birch. Staff Nurse
"The course has been very interactive and interesting."
Joyce Amenya. Community Mental Nurse
"It has been a very helpful 3 day course. Very well presented and clear. It is a very good course to understand risk assessment and management. 3 days is not enough."
Ooemesh Mukool. Community MH Nurse
"The whole course was excellent. Very useful to my practice. Case studies particularly interesting to discuss. I have learnt a lot from this course and will recommend to my colleagues. Best course."
Bharti Majiyhia. Social Worker
"Relevant to my area of work. Feel more confident of doing a risk assessment and management plan. With the DICES forms I have been given some valuable tools to my work as a Psychiatric Nurse."
John Luscombe. RNMH
"Well presented, 3 day course that was not boring/dull. It was interactive and interesting and as someone who has worked in this field of MH and who competently carries out risk assessments I have noted very helpful tips and methods of recording information. Thank you very much."
Course Participant
"Excellent course, well presented and made interesting by exercises and quizzes – made you think! Very relevant to current role."
Janet Curajar. CPN
"The presentation was clear and well presented. The exercises were of great interest and relevant to my work with an Inpatient Service. I will be recommending this course to my fellow team members."
Debra Wakeling. Health Care Assistant
"I have benefited a lot from The DICES® Risk Assessment & Management System course. It is extremely relevant to my clinical area of practice. I attended the same course in 2003. I would recommend everyone working with mental health clients to attend."
Mike Akash Aurokium. Senior Specialist Practitioner, CMHT
"This has been one of the most interesting and useful courses I have been on. Very good balance between information giving and group work/case studies. It has given me a great deal to think about – has made me view some of my patients in a new light and has given me ideas for things to change in my practice … For me a great way to spend constructive time."
Hannah Morris. Occupational Therapist
"I was very impressed with the course content, excellent media used and a good clear presentation … Handouts were superb. Tutor was approachable and was good at linking theory with practice."
Jennifer Keegan. Crisis Practitioner
"One of the best courses I have been on, very useful, insightful and work related. Something I will take back to my work place and will certainly recommend to my colleagues."
Carole Smith. CMHN
"I cannot wait to go back to work in order to implement this approach which I feel is the best way of consolidating my learning."
Angie Moore. Social Worker
"This is probably the best training I have had – very 'alive' i.e. use of case studies and dilemmas that service users can pose. Excellent background information to aid risk assessment process. Whole course aided discussion and therefore learning process. Really made me think, challenged my thinking and previous views."
Vanessa East. CPA Manager
"I am leaving feel I have really learned something useful and relevant to my work. An excellent course, well planned, researched and delivered. A great deal of information delivered in a dynamic style. A very useful course that was thought provoking and challenged existing practice. Excellent course overall. Thank you."
M. Poolan. Staff Nurse
"Very good presentation and very relevant to my area of practice. It has given me food for thought. I personally feel I am able to empower others to try and get on the course to see for themselves the benefits. I have benefited a great deal from this three day course."
Wendy Constant. Deputy Ward Manager
"A well organized, knowledgeable and informative course. Course has empowered me with confidence I need to carry out the risk assessments and management. 10/10 to the tutor for their efforts and keeping the group interested throughout. Many thanks."
Biquis Salim. Psychiatric Liaison Nurse
"Thought provoking and energising course which I will recommend to my colleagues, and is a necessity for all mental health professional to attend."
Paul Everett. Senior Staff Nurse
"Extremely thorough and enjoyable. Very pro-active and views were listened to by tutor and colleagues. Good mix of theory and group work to challenge views on perspectives by current practices. Relevant to my work and easily practicable on return to work. Excellent."
Simon Evans. Staff Nurse
"The course was extremely beneficial and has given me enthusiasm for applying these ideas to my workplace. I do feel very strongly that this course should be available for all staff so implementation of process is easier and everyone can benefit fully from it."
A Ratnayake. RMN
"I have thoroughly enjoyed the course and thought the course tutor/presenter was excellent in conveying the vast amount of information. The course content has been useful and is extremely relevant in my current role. I would recommend this course to all mental health professionals."
Jane Hopkins. A&E Liaison/Crisis Nurse
"The course was well planned and presented. The teacher had in-depth knowledge of the subject matter. Time well spent and valued!!"
Tanya Annely. Liaison Nurse
"Absolutely excellent, enjoyed it very much. Very well presented. Group facilitator was clear, concise, knowledgeable and demonstrated their experience and expertise in this area. I found the course very helpful and should be able to use these systems in my practice. This course was very relevant to my work."
Jacqueline Mannion. Social Worker
"The course introduced me to an exciting concept that I feel will be of great use to me."
Roy Taylor. Staff Nurse
"As I complete risk assessments on a daily basis, I have been particularly impressed and welcoming of new ways to tackle difficult issues. I will definitely use the concepts I have learnt and consider other APT courses. Thank you."
Joanne Swindon. MH Liaison Nurse Specialist
"Well presented course, excellently produced handbook which can become a reference guide for not only myself but other colleagues who haven't been here."
John Murtagh, Ward Manager
"Excellent course, helpful dialog, stimulating and thought provoking. Valuable tools, well reviewed statistics. All prove very helpful in my everyday work, all materials well presented and used appropriately in the session. Good presenter style, good tips re references given. A good experience overall. Thank you."
Cindy Foley, CPN
"I found this an excellent course. Delivered with sensitivity and at an appropriate pace. The content was very relevant to my work practice and I will now be implementing some of the models into my working life."
John Campbell, Social Work Assistant
"I will take away enhanced knowledge and skills which I can share with my team in the hope of improving practice throughout the locality. The presentation style was excellent and created a relaxed but professional atmosphere."
Kay Dillon, Lead Nurse Practitioner
"Brilliant high quality information. Very relevant & clear. Offered good framework, easy to implement that'll be effective to use within the team. Excellent facilitators. Would like more APT training!!"
Trudy R, Team leader
"I have found the 3 days fascinating, interesting, challenging, useful and a very positive experience. The facilitator was very skilled and knowledgeable about the subject, very focused and appropriately challenging. It has made me reflect on my practice and also given me the tools to feel confident in moving forwards in my new post. Thank you."
Vanessa White, Substance misuse practitioner
"This was one of the best, most thoughtfully presented courses I've done"
Simon Noyes, Course attendee
"Enjoyed the course very much. Presented well with ample time for questions and discussions. Overall a pleasant and interesting 3 days."
Joy Newton, Staff Nurse
"Excellent course, well presented, organized and relevant. Good opportunity for 'thinking time'."
Martin Newton, Manager
"Very good – well structured and systematically gone through in a way that produced lively discussion and helped you to focus on difficult areas in a positive way."
Sandra Milne, Senior Outreach Worker
"The course was well detailed and showed a lot of research which was quite useful. A lot of knowledge was imparted from the course by the presenter."
Freedom Nwokedi, Staff Nurse
"Excellent course – well presented."
Dave Otter, Clinical Specialist
"I have found the course enjoyable and informative. I feel it has given me the underpinning knowledge and practical skills to implement the risk assessments within my area of work."
Kath Randles, Ward Sister
"Working as part of a team/service that are already using DICES it was important that I received the relevant training … I feel I have now a different way of looking at risk and will confidently use the relevant forms to complete comprehensive risk assessment to share with relevant people/services. Thank you."
Ellie Walsh, Clinical Leader
"It was a pleasure to be a participant on this course. I have now gained the skills to put this into practice in my workplace. Thank you very much."
Christine Richmond, Support Worker
"The course was well paced, well presented and thought provoking. It is very relevant to my job and I can see the benefits of using such a system."
Yvonne Clark, STR Worker
"I have now gained an insight into how DICES will help me in assessing future patients' needs."
Donna Davis, Nursing Assistant
"Very informative and easy to understand."
Sue Leaning, Nursing Assistant
"Fantastically presented and understanding possible for all mental health staff. Helped significantly in observing and assessing risk, regardless of your experience and position. Interesting and stimulating and despite sitting for two days listening, did not leave feeling bored, sleepy and monotonous – I left wanting more."
Neena Raveneau, Placement Review Officer
"The notebook to re-iterate the PowerPoint presentation was very useful. The course was very relevant to me and I will feel much more confident in assessing risk regarding suicide and violence. The references to real life scenarios were helpful."
Alison Bentley, GP Trainee
"Yet again, another excellent course. Well presented, well balanced and interesting. Course very relevant to my post as practitioner in a community mental health setting. Thanks again!"
Julie McKenzie, Social Worker
"Well presented and very useful tools for working with people. Do not know where the time goes to on these courses."
Frances Fullarton, Social Worker
"A very enjoyable and highly interesting day. Information presented in a meaningful and constructive manner. The use of humor was appropriate. Enjoyed the quiz. A good way to reinforce learning."
Mary Francey, Local Manager
"Extremely well presented and informative course. Being able to access update DICES tools on the internet is something that has never been offered to me on any other course. Very helpful in recognising risks and would highly recommend APT courses."
Marianne Kilgour, APO Community Care
"Again a very informative day involving delivery of factual and theoretical information. The case examples and group discussions allowed us to see how the assessments could be used in day to day practice."
Colin Thomson, Team Leader
"Framework and presentations were very informative. I now have a methodology to assist in focusing factors. The DICES management tool for assisting in identifying risk will be well used within the field of Mental Health."
Michael Diamond, Principal Officer Community Care
"Very enjoyable course that left one with practical, easy to apply tools to take into the workplace. It also offered a way of formalising/evidencing everyday practice."
Brian Walker, Team Leader (Community Care Team)
"Content and presentation excellent."
Edmond Behan, Social Worker
"Brilliant content and learning. Well presented – goals achieved without feeling pressured. Comfortable atmosphere to ask questions."
Elaine Luke, Senior Social Work Practitioner
"Again a very informative day involving delivery of factual and theoretical information. The case examples and group discussions allowed us to see how the assessments could be used in day to day practice."
Margaret Hall, Senior Practitioner
"Good overview of a complex topic – the DICES forms help focus thinking on relevant factors to assessment and management."
Norma Bell, Mental Health Officer
"Thoroughly enjoyable and well presented. The course was pitched at a level most appropriate to Mental Health Officers. I look forward to any future courses given by APT. Thanks."
Anne Dewan, Senior Social Worker
"Excellent way to look at balanced way of assessing risk."
Eileen Fleming, Social Worker
"A very useful and informative course. Tutor was excellent as a facilitator/presenter and managed to make the 3 days fun but very interesting. I think this course will be very valid during the course of my work."
Amanda Shanley, CPN
"Excellent facilitator. A very well put together course."
Andy Parsons, Social Worker
"Excellent opportunity to reflect on practice – work through scenarios and take time out in a safe environment to go through very relevant issues."
Ali Cook, CPN
"Gained a great deal and thoroughly enjoyed the course. Level and pace were good and it was excellently taught. Will recommend to others."
Debbie Fox, Social Worker
"Enabled me to look back and reflect on practice, being to the fore requirements for risk assessment and enable me to follow up the course with practical implementation."
John Pinney, Manager
"Excellently presented course, with many relevant examples give. The paperwork is relevant to me within my work place, but essentially it will work well when patients are initially assessed."
Peter Owen, Senior Care Officer
"I feel satisfied at the end of this 3 day course. It has allowed me the knowledge I needed to develop my professional skills in DICES Risk Assessment."
Elizabeth Ukaiwe
"The course material was very organized which made it easy to understand. The tutor was interesting and very knowledgeable and allowed just enough time for feedback /groupwork etc. And moved the course along at a good pace. Would be interested in doing further courses."
Mandy Snell, Social Worker
"I enjoyed the content, pace and delivery of the course. The information was thought provoking and relevant."
Jenny Tucker, MH Social Worker
"Very easy yet valuable course to follow. Made interesting by use of example and statistics and facilitator who used a variety of techniques to make course stimulating."
Dave McTeer, Community MH Nurse
"Excellent presentation. Topic very relevant and at the heart of community care. I've immensely benefited from the course and wish to thank the tutor for an excellent job. I believe I will be a better clinician from what I have learnt today."
Miriam Chinyamunzore, Community Mental Health Nurse
"In a nutshell it gave me an overwhelming understanding of risk assessment and risk management with clear examples."
Sunny Ramjug, Nurse
"I felt it was very empowering and educative to me as a newly qualified clinician. I am more confident in assessing risk and being involved in management with my team. I felt lucky as I feel the course came at the right time for me and the DICES forms provided were of good use, easy to understand and useful."
Rosemary Chinzara, Staff Nurse
"The course was enjoyable, well taught, thorough and relevant to my professional development."
Rasak Dosunmu, Staff Nurse
"DICES assessment/performance-management-training.html forms will serve as a valuable reference to guide risk interventions – thorough and relevant … Course content absolutely relevant to clinical practice – reinforced current knowledge with many other gems to consider which will further inform and improve the quality of my professional practice."
Jacqueline Brumant, Care Coordinator/Occupational Therapist
"Excellent material … Despite many years of mental health practice, I was still able to gain a number of really useful insights/pointers to improving practice/more precise identification of risks. Presenter extremely knowledgeable, articulate and helpful."
Sally Wexler, Social Worker
"Useful and informative. Particularly useful key concepts and interactive elements of the training."
Sharon O'Leary, Staff Nurse
"I enjoyed the recounting of experiences, meeting other colleagues from different sites of the trust, and hearing their experiences. I found the course presenter approachable and pleasant and the content of the course interesting."
Joanna Ellis, RMN
"Very useful and educative."
Zahir Khan, Psychiatrist
"This was one of the best courses I have ever attended in a career spanning twenty years … Excellent personal style of tutor contributed to making this a highly informative, educative and enjoyable learning experience and I feel very fortunate to have participated in this course. I very much hope that it will be 'rolled out' to other trust employees so that it will help us all to share similar perspectives and language … Thank you for coming to Ireland."
Christine Little, Social Worker
"I have found this course extremely beneficial and appropriate to my needs. Our presenter was absolutely brilliant, sensitive, challenging and thought provoking. I would have no hesitation in recommending the extension of this training to all other professionals within the Trust. This has provided us with a valid, global assessment tool which is straightforward, clear and concise. Thank you very much."
Amanda McFadden, Senior Nurse Advisor
"One of the best courses I have attended. The facilitator was excellent, especially in encouraging interaction and providing actual life cases. The content I feel will help me both personally and professionally in that it will boost my confidence in my clinical practice. Excellent once again. It comes across that 'you really care'."
Kay Smullen, Nurse
"Thought provoking – useful, wide ranging discussion. Not just theory – practical advice and realistic discussion on application. Excellent."
Lorna Akroyd, Occupational Therapist
"I found the content and presentation of course material very informative and beneficial. The information will be very applicable and relevant to my work. It will provide me with a structured framework which will enhance my practice and thus provide the clients with the best possible therapeutic interventions. The tutor allowed for group participation and encouraged thought provoking exercises."
Rebecca McCrossan, Ward Manager
"I really enjoyed the three days, it was very informative. The tutor was very knowledgeable and experienced. It was very helpful him sharing his experiences with the group. The group exercises assessing risk and formulating a plan to manage risk was excellent. A very good course, very well presented and very beneficial – thank you."
Carmel O' Kane, Ward Manager
"Excellent, well presented and most relevant to current clinical practice. I feel that the whole process of global risk assessment has been formalized for myself in a manner that facilitates implementation into our daily clinical practice. I am looking forward to practising and getting accustomed to utilising these methods."
Corman Jackson, Nurse
"Excellent delivery of very relevant information to my current role. Facilitator was excellent in helping group to question their own values and assumptions. Very rewarding and thought provoking 3 days."
Maria Forester, CPN/Cognitive Therapist
"Well worthwhile, informative, good guide on risk assessment. Evident that presenter had significant experience."
Angela Doherty, CPN/CBT
"Excellent course, well presented. Found content very relevant to my current practice. The whole process of global risk assessment now is more structured and formalized, hopefully resulting in less stress and more accurate risk assessment and management. Lots/all of the information is easily translated into practice – hopefully. Very impressed with presentation and skills of tutor – very informative."
Jackie McCay, CPN
"This should enable me to do a comprehensive risk assessment and to be more informed of what the options are regarding risk management."
Kevin McNamee, CPN
"Excellent, well presented and thought provoking. Will improve assessment and therefore the overall wellbeing of our clients."
Terry Atcheson, Senior Nurse
"I found the content and presentation of course material very informative and beneficial. The information will be very applicable and relevant to my work. It will provide me with a structured framework which will enhance my practice and thus provide the clients with the best possible therapeutic interventions. The tutor allowed for group participation and encouraged thought provoking exercises."
Geraldine Allen, Team Manager
"Extremely well presented and facilitated. Very useful tool that I look forward to using in the future."
Joe Gallacher, Deputy Unit Manager
"Excellent presentation skills. Approachable and friendly tutor. Expert and broad knowledge of relevant psychology. Enjoyable course."
Declan Fay, Trainee Psychologist
"I really enjoyed the course. It was relevant, interesting, thorough and well delivered."
Michael Samers, Shift Co-ordinator
"I enjoyed the course. The material was very relevant, excellent discussion and no time restrictions on discussions. Good examples used. All questions answered. Course very well organized and delivered."
Alice Hagan, Social Care Worker
"Excellent delivery – timing very good, content was impressive and instruments for risk assessment user friendly."
Pat Quinn, Training and Development Officer
"Really enjoyed both days. The course did exactly what it said it would in that it was delivered in a non threatening way. This allowed for learning to take place and discussions were very relevant to my present job. It allowed for clarity around a number of issues."
Nuala O' Neill, Social Care Worker
"Generally I don't like day or two day training courses as they are not always relevant to my job or well presented. This course was neither of those, extremely relevant to my post and organization and very well presented. DICES seems to be an extremely simple yet holistic approach to the needs of our YP, staff and service in general. So simple yet so right!! Excellent."
Sarah Keane, Unit Co-ordinator
Quick Links
The DICES Risk Assessment & Management System ❯
Feedback for The DICES System ❯
Evidence for The DICES System ❯
The DICES® System for Risk Assessment & Management.
Available in 3-day and 2-day versions.
A cogent system that actually facilitates clinical work, this is one of our most renowned courses. Thousands of professionals have already attended it.
With the starting point that excellent risk management involves excellent clinical practice, The DICES® System for Risk Assessment and Management shows what is necessary to properly assess and manage risk easily, reliably and to the benefit of all, and this accounts for its staggering popularity.
Part one covers the nature and theory of risk assessment and management: why we do it and what we aim to achieve by it. Part two covers risk assessment specifically: if you don't notice the risk there is no chance you will manage it correctly. Part three covers risk management: there is no virtue in spotting a risk if you are not able to manage it. The end result is that not only do you know about risk assessment and management, you also have the ability and the equipment to do so reliably and well.
Feedback Ratings.
We continuously monitor the quality of our training by obtaining feedback on the two key scales of relevance and presentation from every course delegate. Below are the average ratings for the last ten runnings of this course, which are updated periodically.
Face-to-Face
Presentation: 98%
Relevance: 97%
Online Live
Presentation: 91%
Relevance: 93%
