Receptionists trained to steer patients away from the GP

RECEPTIONISTS are being trained to screen patients who try to make an appointment with their GP as part of efforts to free up doctors’ schedules.

Labelled “care navigators” by the NHS, administrative staff at doctors’ surgeries are being sent on a half-day course where they learn how to direct patients away from doctors and towards nurses, pharmacists and other health workers.

The scheme, which is being trialled at a number of surgeries around the country, is designed to bring down the number of “avoidable” appointments.

There is a national shortage of GPS, with a record number of vacancies for doctors leading to soaring waiting lists.

But campaigners fear patients will not be willing to discuss their health problems with a receptionist, and that symptoms could be missed.

A study last year found receptionists were deterring patients from visiting their doctor. Almost half of patients said they were put off by fear of being grilled about their symptoms by someone without medical training, according to the survey by Cancer Research.

It follows plans revealed earlier this year for patients to lose their “automatic right” to a same-day doctor’s appointment in Oxfordshire. The plans also required receptionists to be “skilled-up” as part of the overhaul.

A spokesman for NHS England told the Daily Mail: “Care navigators are practice staff who are specially trained to offer patients the right choice of treatment at the right time.

“It is already common for patients to inform reception staff about their needs but anyone who still wants to see a GP will always be able to do so.”