We introduced care navigation into practices across North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent which greatly improved the patient experience and significantly released capacity in practices.

Background

Care navigation uses signposting and information to help primary care patients move through the health and social care system as smoothly as possible to ensure that needs are met.​

The introduction of care navigation is seen as a key action in the GP Forward View to release capacity in practices. Frontline staff can direct patients to the wider health and wellbeing team or to external services, as appropriate, at the time an appointment is requested. ​

Our data quality specialists working with North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Clinical Commissioning Groups have been supported by West Wakefield Health & Wellbeing (a GP federation and wave one GP Access Fund site) in developing the CCGs’ care navigation approach.​

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Action

Our data quality specialists were involved from the outset, advising about coding and templates so data could be provided around time saved in GP appointments.​

We advised on read codes and created clinical system templates. These were tailored to individual practices to incorporate their in-house services along with Pharmacy First, walk-in centres, dentists, opticians and the Voluntary and Community Services’ VAST Hub (social prescribing). Wellbeing services have since been included in the templates.​

We embedded a link to MiDOS (a local directory of services) in the templates so reception staff could access information quickly and easily. We also embedded inclusion criteria documents for each of the services.​

Using a dashboard, we monitor and analyse the practices’ data to produce a monthly report for the CCGs and a quarterly one for the practices. ​

We installed the bespoke clinical templates onto participating practices’ clinical systems prior to go-live of the service and trained practice staff in completing them.​

Impact

Care Navigation is live in 20 North Staffordshire practices and 25 Stoke practices.​

• September 2017 – March 2018: 17569 signposts saving 2721 hours of GP time​
• April 2018 – November 2018: 18786 signposts saving 2732 hours of GP time​

The single most accepted service is to nurse practitioners. The most used external signposting is to Pharmacy First, closely followed by walk-in centres, however Pharmacy First has a higher rate of patient rejections.​

Our work with West Wakefield has been used as a case study for best practice nationally, which involved filming for NHS England.​

Physio First has been a pilot in three Newcastle North practices and the dashboard has been used to monitor its impact with a view to the service being commissioned more widely.​

Further information

If you would like more information about our services, you can contact us on our help and contact page.