Care Navigators are receptionists who have undertaken training to navigate patients to the right health professional. Care Navigation simply means helping people to get to the best person and place to receive timely care.
Navigating you to the best possible care
Around 140 GP staff – including ones from our practice - are at the heart of a new scheme to support you, our patients, to access the most appropriate health or social service for your needs.
Former receptionists at GP practices have undertaken a ten-hour training programme to become ‘care navigators’ – with ongoing training planned.
The initiative involves the care navigators directing patients to the right health professional and is already freeing up GPs and other healthcare professionals to spend more time with the patients who most need their help, advice and support.
Care navigators are not replacements for GPs – or practice nurses, pharmacists, or any other healthcare professional working in primary care. If a patient really needs to see a GP, then they will be able to. Care navigation simply means helping people to get to the best person and place to receive timely care.
How it works
When you contact the practice, the care navigator will ask you for a brief outline of the problem so they can identify your need, working to an approved checklist.
The care navigator will refer to information about services or clinical experts in the practice, other NHS providers and the wider care and support section and, where appropriate, they will direct you to those services – to ensure the patient gets the right care, in the right place, at the right time.