Receptionists and Care Navigators often come across resistance from patients when they are doing their job. They are a key part the wider GP practice/surgery team and by gathering information from patients they ensure that they reach the right person or service first time.
The first person you speak to in most situations whether medical or non medical is usually a receptionist, call handler or customer service agent, all of whom need to gather information to ensure you are dealt with by the most appropriate person. Your Doctors and medical team have entrusted their reception / care navigation team to do the same on their behalf as they have a really good understanding of the services on offer and which members of the team deal with what.
The campaign aims to encourage patients to think a bit more about wider healthcare roles and help with providing a better understanding and encourage more patience of processes within modern general practice and primary care.
Speaking about the project Paul Day, Communications and Media Project Manger for Primary Care Services North Cumbria said:
"A massive thank you goes out to all the patients and staff who were involved at the start of this project for their invaluable input that helped inspire us to shape some new resources and determine what the most important talking points should be.
"This initial research and discussion meant there was a much more co-produced approach to this project and brought up interesting themes across meetings including demand and expectations, the wider scope of teams within primary care, generational differences, online and face to face options, patient behaviours and many other things.
"We hope that this joint campaign across North Cumbria will start conversations and start to change perceptions looking at both sides of the service. We know there is a lot of pressure throughout all health and care systems at the moment, but the hope is that some understanding of the frustrations experienced from both sides will help with expectations and explore new channels."
