When a referee blows their whistle during a rugby match, the game stops, everyone looks towards the ref, the players listen to what’s being said, a discussion is had, then the game continues. Listening is key in this scenario as the players want to understand why the ref blew their whistle and what it means for their team. I’ll now stop dreaming of being sat at rugby HQ (Twickenham) watching a match and focus on the subject at hand.

The scenario above highlights why listening matters. If we didn’t listen, we wouldn’t understand and we wouldn’t know what to do next. The same applies when we think of whistleblowing in general practice; we encourage whistleblowing, we promote a culture of honesty and openness, and we train our teams to understand why whistleblowing matters. We want them to feel comfortable to raise concerns and to do so with confidence.

As managers, we know we need to support those who blow the whistle and speak up; we need to keep them informed and up to date, advise them of the outcomes and, hopefully, explain how – by that individual speaking up – improvements have been made.

Part of the whistleblowing process involves you listening, and listening well. You need to engage your ‘port and starboard listening devices’ (ears). You need to actively listen to what’s being said. Active listening is a very powerful skill and there’s more to it than you might think. It’s often said that people don’t listen to understand, they listen to reply, and therein lies the problem.

I’m sure we’re all guilty of not really listening at times as we’ve always got lots to do. We probably try and multitask to save time and reduce the ever-increasing to-do list. I know I’ve certainly had conversations whilst typing an email – which isn’t ideal if the conversation is important! This is where we need to shift our focus and listen up. You wouldn’t want your colleague to walk away thinking, ‘They didn’t even listen to me. Why did I bother speaking up?’

There can’t be any barriers to speaking up, and whilst you may think there are no barriers, by not giving the whistleblower your full attention, you’re actually creating a barrier; the individual won’t have any faith that you’re going to follow up their concerns. Remember, whistleblowing is a three-step process: Speak Up, Listen Up, Follow Up.

Given the complexities associated with whistleblowing matters, staff may feel they don’t want to ‘rock the boat’; therefore, the process must be robust and effective. Staff need to know that, where appropriate, action will be taken. As Sir Winston Churchill once said, ‘Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.’

If you’re wondering how you can Listen Up, or you’re not quite sure about active listening, don’t worry, we’ve got it covered in the ‘Whistleblowing: Listening Well – A manager’s guide’, which explains active listening and what you can do to ensure you’re listening well.

This short eLearning course is available exclusively via Practice Index Learning in the HUB. Suitable for everyone working in management in primary care, if you’re already a subscriber, you’ll find this in your course list now.

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