Hi my name is Jayne Filio , I am one of the two care Navigators who started in April this year. Although I work with the GP Federation my employer is Age Uk Bolton. We are working together in a partnership to provide the best service possible to the patients of the surgeries that we cover.

Our role as a care navigator is to provide a service which helps and understands the care and social needs of the patients. We are working closely with the GP’s and staff to act as an intermediate between the community services and the community voluntary sector. We will facilitate or navigate the patient to the right support or service based on the individual. Our aim is to reduce the number of unnecessary GP visits and to help patients access services which they may not know are available. Having the connection with Age Uk Bolton is proving to be very resourceful and is giving us lots of links with what activities are available in the local community as well as a good point of contact for information and advice. Just the mention of the charity puts people at ease as they know it has a good reputation and many are surprised that the charity support people from the age of 50+.

At the moment we cover two Neighbourhoods, Deane/Rumworth and Chorley Roads. Kim my colleague who is employed by the GP Federation covers Chorley Roads and I cover Deane/Rumworth. In total we cover nine surgeries with a total of 57,577 patients.

As this is a new service we are both very keen to show that what we are doing is making a difference to both the patients and the GP Surgeries we cover. The feedback we are getting from the patients is all very positive and they are grateful for the visit.

Up to date we have had over 100 referrals from the nine surgeries we are covering and each week we seem to be getting more referrals through. The age of people who can be referred to our service are 60 and above. We get our referrals via the GP or any staff who work within that surgery as these are the people who know their patients best.

During our assessment we ask a range of questions relating to the patient’s general health and wellbeing. We find out what is important to them as an individual and set small goals. Following our assessment we can then signpost or refer them to the right service for support or further information. We will keep in contact for a few weeks after to see how things are going and if they need any further support.

Some of the things we have been able to help with is putting people in contact with the right sort of support, we have referred people to befriending services, Day centres, The community asset navigators or CANS as they are also known. We also work in close contact with the integrated neighbourhood teams who have access to a range of professionals like social workers, physios, occupational therapist, social support and financial issues.

Since the service has started in April we have had some very positive feedback from the patients their families and GP’s.

From a personal perspective I have met some lovely people so far and it is nice to know I am making a difference to their lives.