Signposting Toolkit — Product Overview

The Signposting Toolkit is a web-based system designed to support GP reception and care-navigation teams in making safe, consistent decisions about where patients should be directed. Built within an NHS primary care setting, the toolkit brings structure, clarity, and repeatability to one of the busiest and most pressured parts of general practice: front-door triage.

The system combines a clinically-curated symptom library, high-risk indicators, AI-assisted clarity tools, and an appointment directory to help staff ensure that patients reach the right service first time — even on the days when the phone lines never stop.

Why it exists

Reception and care-navigation teams make hundreds of triage decisions every day.

But without a shared, up-to-date reference:

• staff rely on memory or wording from past notes

• decisions vary between individuals

• high-risk symptoms can be missed

• local processes aren’t always followed consistently

• onboarding new receptionists takes longer than it should

The Signposting Toolkit solves this by providing a single, standardised, clinically-reviewed source of truth for patient signposting.

Key Benefits

✔ Consistent decision-making

Everyone uses the same symptom guidance, improving safety and reducing variation between team members.

✔ Designed around real reception workflows

The layout, buttons, language, and categories are designed with and for NHS receptionists — fast, clear, and intuitive.

✔ Helps identify high-risk presentations

Automatic colour-highlighting and high-risk flags bring urgent cues to the top.

✔ Supports local pathways

Practices and PCNs can override and customise symptoms so that guidance reflects your clinicians, your services, and your local processes.

✔ Enables clinical governance

Every symptom has an approval state. Admin or clinical leads can review, update, and track changes over time.

✔ Builds confidence in newer staff

Reception and care-navigation colleagues can act independently and safely because they have clear, easy-to-read instructions in front of them.

Core Components

1. Symptom Library

A structured library of 200+ base symptoms covering common and urgent primary care presentations.

Practices can:

• override the base text

• create additional custom symptoms

• configure high-risk flags

• adjust instructions for local pathways

• include advice for children under/over 5 and adults

Every symptom has a clear, readable instruction set designed for non-clinical staff.

2. High-Risk Flags & Safety Highlighting

The Toolkit automatically highlights:

• red / urgent indicators

• amber caution wording

• pink / purple safeguarding phrases

• common pharmacy-first opportunities

• keywords configured by the practice

This draws staff attention to important red flags and ensures nothing vital is overlooked.

3. AI-Assisted Clarity Tools

AI features are designed to support clarity, not decision-making.

Tools include:

• AI Instruction Editor — rewrites receptionist instructions to be clearer and easier to read

• AI Suggested Questions — practical follow-up questions staff can ask callers to better understand the presentation

All AI-generated content requires mandatory clinical review before it goes live.

4. Appointment Directory

A structured list of:

• appointment types

• local care teams

• practice-specific slots

• external services (e.g. pharmacies, PCN teams)

This helps receptionists quickly see which service or person deals with which symptoms.

5. Clinical Governance Workflow

Each symptom moves through:

1. Draft

2. Submitted for Review

3. Approved

This ensures that all guidance is clinically validated and reflects up-to-date local practice.

The toolkit also supports periodic review cycles.

6. Multi-Surgery / Multi-Site Support

The Toolkit supports:

• practices with multiple sites

• PCNs with shared workflows

• configurations that differ between surgeries

• separate approval flows per organisation

Central updates can be applied without disrupting local customisations.

7. Role-Based Access Control

Different users see different tools:

• Superusers — can manage global settings

• Surgery Admins — manage symptoms, local overrides, governance workflow

• Standard Users — reception/care-navigation staff using the live symptom library

Who is it for?

• GP reception teams

• Care navigators

• Practice managers

• Clinical leads (GP partners, ANPs, pharmacists)

• PCNs wanting unified triage processes

• Developers deploying or extending the tool

What it is not

• Not a clinical decision-support system

• Not a diagnostic tool

• Not a replacement for clinical review

• Not designed for patient-facing use

It is a clarity tool that supports frontline staff and strengthens governance.

Support & Contact

For onboarding, demos, or questions about using the Signposting Toolkit, email:

📮 contact@signpostingtool.co.uk