Communication Skills

Welcome to the National Healthcare Communication Programme

Good communication improves your performance because it results in more effective conversations between you, the people who use our services and your colleagues. Multiple studies have linked improved communication to better patient and staff experience and improved healthcare outcomes.

We in the National Healthcare Communication Programme, believe that all staff can be supported to improve their communication by discussing and practicing key communication skills involved in improving patient and staff encounters.

None of us are perfect communicators, but we can all improve. That improvement comes from a combination of knowledge, experience, feedback and perhaps above all - self-awareness. As you go through the modules and watch the videos and other materials, consider the skills and how they apply to your day-to-day work. Remember - that although good communication looks easy, it is a practiced art…developing and improving communication skills is a lifelong task, while some staff may have a naturally good approach to communication with people and their caregivers, all staff can improve core skills.

The Programme is based on the Calgary-Cambridge Model (Calgary-Cambridge Guide). The Guide is widely used across the world to teach communication skills to healthcare workers. It provides a clear structure for learning, practice, and reflection and is used across the Programme for all types of healthcare conversation. The Calgary-Cambridge Guide summarises the healthcare conversation as a sequential 5 step process; initiating the conversation, gathering information, physical examination, providing information and planning and closing the conversation. Providing structure and Building the relationship are two steps that continue throughout the conversation. Within each step are key communication skills that can be used to achieve the best outcomes from each healthcare conversation.

The Module 1 workshop (Making Connections) focuses the Building the relationship section of the Calgary-Cambridge Guide and the remaining sections of the Guide (Initiating the conversation, Gathering information, Providing information and planning, Closing the conversation and Providing structure) are covered in Module 2 (Core Consultation Skills). Staff are encouraged to complete Modules 1 and 2 in advance of taking any of the remaining workshops. All remaining programme modules use the Calgary-Cambridge Guide, focusing especially on particular skills for particular conversations (e.g. delivering bad news). Thus Programme modules provide consistent and cumulative learning.