Lisa Hornby is a receptionist, Care Navigation Lead and Cancer and Carers Champion at the Village Green Surgery in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear.
Lisa completed her Care Navigation training with the NAPC 8 years ago. She didn’t know what to expect or what it was about but remembers the training well and really enjoys her role as a Care Navigator.
Care Navigation training recognises the important role of frontline staff in primary care and supports them to signpost people to the right services, which empowers patients to support their own health and wellbeing and improves access to primary care services.
The surgery Lisa works at have seen such value in Care Navigation, that there are now three other Care Navigators who Lisa oversees and at two surgeries nearby. Lisa also supports two Care Navigators by advising them on what to do and where patients can be signposted to.
Lisa says “I feel I have made changes to patients’ lives that have really helped them, and they appreciate the time that Care Navigation staff take to support them.
“I would recommend this training to all staff – medical or clerical – as it gives you a different outlook on patients who are initially ringing to see a GP, as sometimes we can help signpost them to another service that will benefit them.”
Lisa now has her own Care Navigation clinic at the Village Green Surgery, so if someone rings up, she can call them back during her clinic which enables her to have more time to have an in-depth conversation.
Lisa explains: “I often ask ‘can I help?’ and we then have a good chat about what the difficulty is. As I don’t have an allocated appointment for them, I have time to confidently signpost them to the right service, which isn’t always the GP, or I can find out if there are any safeguarding concerns – especially for elderly patients who have had a change in circumstances. I give them the time so that they can access the right the services. It’s a welfare check, and it often gives them a boost to know they’re being listened to.”
NHS England found that effective care navigation could direct over 15% of patients to either teams that could better help them or to the most appropriate healthcare professional for assessment and response – without the need to see a GP.
