There is never much time to speak to patients, yet what people tell you about their symptoms or concerns is crucial to their care. Listening effectively is a key skill for everyone working in pharmacy.

Communication skills are a fundamental component of a patient-centred approach. Research demonstrates that patient-centred communication has a positive impact on important outcomes, including patient satisfaction, adherence to recommended treatment and the self-management of chronic disease.

As we send and receive messages to and from patients during the working day, listening plays a crucial role. Receiving a message through the ears is simply hearing. To listen is to decode the message and understand the objectives of the sender.

In Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, the fifth habit states ‘seek first to understand, then to be understood’, and listening skills are at the core of this. Developing these assists the healthcare provider to become an excellent communicator.

In a recent Australian study, patients’ willingness to use a medicine management service in the future was strongly influenced by their perceptions of how well the pharmacist listened to them during their last medication review.¹

In a study using the Calgary Cambridge Communication framework, pharmacists showed good use of many skills, especially signposting and closing the consultation. However, some skills, such as listening effectively, eliciting the patient’s perspective and creating patientcentred consultations, were poorly presented.²

We are not born with excellent listening skills; we need to train to do this effectively. Listening is often viewed as an involuntary skill, but listening with intent to understand the message and the purpose of the conversation requires practice and commitment.