Listening is a tool for health equity, not just a soft skill (BMJ, 2 July 2025)

Summary

Communication skills such as listening are often regarded by the medical profession as “soft” skills in comparison to more “solid” medical competencies. But when a failure to listen has been reported as a root cause in several patient safety investigations, with minoritised patients disproportionately harmed by these safety incidents, communication skills need to be taken more seriously. Healthcare itself can worsen health inequities, when it should be alleviating them. This is something that healthcare professionals can improve in our everyday practice and beyond. Listening is vital for patient safety and health equity at individual, institutional, and global levels, writes Rageshri Dhairyawan, a consultant in genitourinary medicine at Barts Health NHS Trust.