It is not always necessary to see a GP. A nurse practitioner, practice nurse, health care assistant or practice pharmacist, or another service such as an Optician or Community Pharmacy, may be more appropriate and for this reason our receptionists have now been trained  to cover a more diverse role and will now be working in the practice as Care Navigators.  This is a role that is being introduced in ALL practices across Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale.

The purpose of this role is to advise patients and carers about the sources of help and advice which are most relevant to their need. Active signposting is NOT a clinical consultation and it is not to make a diagnosis or plan treatment.

This new approach is not about denying our patients an appointment but actually using signposting for precisely the opposite motive – to make it easier for patients who need to see a GP to get an appointment, while shortening the time it takes to connect patients with the most appropriate person.

To help you make the appointment, the Care Navigator will need to know a little about why you need an appointment and so will ask you some very brief questions. This is because the Care Navigators have a number of alternative types of appointments available to them, and they need to offer you the most appropriate appointment to deal with your problem.  The most appropriate appointment may be with your GP for example, or perhaps with another member of the practice team

All Practices in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale now operate a system of triage for all urgent same day requests.

The aim is to provide the most appropriate appointment, more convenient access, more efficient use of time for GPs and patients by ensuring that patients see the the right professional for their needs. This helps to ensure routine appointments remain available for patients with chronic complex illnesses.

Please note that we will still be operating the same system for pre bookable routine appointments and these can be made in advance.

We continue to encourage patients to register to use our on line services for booking appointments and requesting repeat prescriptions.

We very much hope that this system will make the best use of the services available both at the practice and in the wider community, and by doing so indirectly increase the number of available GP appointments, so that you can more easily secure this when necessary.