If you’ve ever tried to get a GP appointment and felt as though you were being passed around before finding the right person, you’ve already experienced the need for care navigation. At its heart, care navigation is simply about helping patients reach the right care, the first time they ask for it. Not the third. Not after a series of phone calls. Just once and done.
That sounds straightforward, but the reality inside a busy practice is rarely so neat. Reception teams are juggling calls, face to face queries, urgent requests and occasionally, frustrated patients. Without a clear process, things can get… well, messy. And messy means wasted time for staff and longer waits for patients.
So, care navigation is really a structured way of sorting and directing patient requests so they land where they should. A pharmacist for a prescription query, a physiotherapist for certain musculoskeletal problems, a GP for complex cases. It’s part signposting, part triage, and part knowing when to say “you’ll get help faster if you go here instead.”
Why the old way isn’t enough anymore
Traditionally, care navigation has relied on reception staff knowing the right questions to ask and having the time to listen. That’s a problem when the phone queue is ten callers deep and someone at the front desk is asking about test results.
The NHS has recognised this too. Their updated How to improve care navigation in general practice guide, refreshed on 6 August 2025, offers a very practical, step by step approach. It’s flexible enough to use from scratch if you’re building a new process, or you can dip into individual sections to strengthen what you already have. It even includes editable resources (spreadsheets, call scripts, process maps) that can save time and give staff a clear structure. Honestly, it’s worth a read if you haven’t looked at it yet.
What “going digital” really means here
It’s not about replacing people with machines. I think some worry about that. It’s about supporting staff with tools that do the heavy lifting of sorting, prioritising and routing requests.
Imagine this. A patient fills out an online form at 9pm describing their symptoms. The system uses pre-set rules to flag it as urgent or routine, then routes it straight to the right team. By the time the practice opens, it’s already in the correct queue. No bottleneck at reception. No delays in getting the patient where they need to be.
Or take call scripts. Instead of flipping through a paper sheet, a receptionist could have prompts appear on their screen as they talk to the patient. The questions adapt to the answers given. That’s quicker, more consistent and perhaps most importantly, less stressful when the pressure’s on.
The other benefit nobody really talks about
When care navigation goes digital, it becomes measurable. You can actually see the data: how many requests were resolved without a GP, which services are in highest demand, how long patients waited. That’s powerful for planning. It’s also reassuring for staff to know, for example, that 20% of yesterday’s calls were successfully redirected to the pharmacy.
Of course, technology alone won’t solve everything. Processes still need reviewing. Staff still need training. And some patients will always prefer speaking to someone in person. But a digital first approach means you have a framework that works consistently, whether the practice is at its quietest or its busiest.
A final thought
Care navigation is really about respect. Respect for the patient’s time and for the staff’s workload. When done well, it feels almost invisible. The patient just gets the help they need without thinking about the process that got them there.
Going digital isn’t about making the process more complicated. It’s about making sure the process is followed every time, without relying on memory or guesswork. And if that means fewer repeat phone calls, fewer wrong appointments and more time for genuine patient care, then perhaps it’s worth making the change sooner rather than later.
Explore our Digital Care Navigation Checklist to discover opportunities to make your process even stronger.
FAQ:
Care navigation in general practice is a structured way of directing patients to the right care at the right time. If you’ve ever wondered what is care navigation, it’s essentially the process of assessing a patient’s needs and routing them to the most appropriate healthcare professional or service. This helps reduce delays, ease pressure on GPs and improve patient satisfaction.
In its simplest form, care navigation in general practice involves trained staff or digital systems gathering patient information and deciding the best next step. When people ask what is care navigation, the answer often includes examples like redirecting a prescription query to a pharmacist or referring someone with joint pain to a physiotherapist instead of a GP.
The benefits of care navigation in general practice include faster access to care, reduced workload for clinicians and more efficient use of resources. For those still asking what is care navigation, the biggest advantage is that it ensures patients get to the right service first time, without unnecessary repeat calls or appointments.
Digital systems make care navigation in general practice faster and more consistent. If you’re asking what is care navigation in a digital context, it means using online forms, automated triage tools and guided scripts to streamline patient requests and route them accurately, often before the practice doors even open.
A great starting point is the NHS’s official guidance, which explains care navigation in general practice step by step and includes ready to use resources. For anyone who still wants a clear answer to what is care navigation, this guide offers real examples, training ideas and tools to help you set up or improve your process.
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