Tell receptionist your problem if you want GP slot
JON MACPHERSON
GP patients in Hyndburn will have to discuss their medical problems with receptionists and admin staff before being given an appointment.
Health bosses say their new ‘Care Navigator’ scheme will help ‘ support and guide patients to access the most appropriate service’.
The service is being piloted in Hyndburn before being rolled out across East Lancashire and will see GP receptionists and admin staff, who have been given specialist training in order to help them, direct patients to the ‘right health professional first time’.
Michelle Pilling, deputy chairman at NHS East Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said: “Across East Lancashire we are working hard to make sure that when people need to see a GP, they have access to one quickly and in a way that suits them, be that in person or over the phone.
“We know that sometimes patients find navigating health services difficult and in some cases the GP practice might not even be the right place at all for the query.
“Sometimes patients could be seen and treated quicker by a nurse, dentist or a pharmacist for example. That’s where care navigation comes in.
“It’s about giving patients choice, and supporting and guiding them with the right information about other health care professionals who have the expertise to deal with a problem; often quicker and without the need to see the GP each time.”
The NHS CCG group said care navigation is a ‘tried and tested model of care that improves access to primary care services for patients and reduces GP pressures all in one’.
Under the scheme, when a patient contacts the practice the ‘Care Navigator’ will ask for a brief outline of their problem before then being referred to information about services in the practice, other NHS providers and the wider care and support sector.
“The five services initially available to Care Navigators will be a nurse or advanced nurse practitioner, a dentist, optician, pharmacist or talking therapies.
A CCG spokesperson said: “Their goal is to ensure that patients get the right care at the right time in the right place with the right outcome.
“Care Navigation in Hyndburn will be launched throughout the autumn and will be gradually rolled out throughout East Lancashire by early next year.”