The Signposting Toolkit uses visual highlighting to help staff quickly identify high-risk symptoms and important information. Colour-coded phrases and prominent high-risk buttons ensure critical cases are noticed immediately.

High-Risk Symptoms

High-risk symptoms are those requiring urgent attention or immediate clinical assessment. The system provides quick access to these symptoms through prominent buttons and clear visual indicators.

High-Risk Quick Buttons

High-risk quick buttons provide instant access to urgent symptoms directly from the homepage and symptom library.

Button Styles

• Pill Style — Rounded pill-shaped buttons
• Tile Style — Square tile buttons with icons

Users can choose their preferred style in preferences.

Benefits

• One-click access to critical symptoms
• Consistent placement for muscle memory
• Visual prominence ensures visibility
• Customisable appearance

High-Risk Configuration

Admins can configure which symptoms appear as high-risk buttons:

Configuration Options

• Select symptoms to feature
• Customise button order
• Add custom high-risk symptoms
• Remove non-applicable options

Best Practices

• Limit to most critical symptoms
• Keep list manageable (5-10 buttons)
• Review regularly for relevance
• Update as pathways change

Highlight Engine

The highlight engine automatically colours key phrases in symptom instructions, making important information stand out at a glance.

How It Works

The system scans instruction text for specific phrases and applies colour-coding automatically. This happens in real-time when instructions are displayed.

Built-in Highlighting

The system includes built-in recognition for common phrases:

Slot Types

• Orange slot — Standard appointments requiring booking

  • Background: Orange
  • Text: White
  • Usage: Regular appointment bookings

• Red slot — Urgent appointments

  • Background: Red
  • Text: White
  • Usage: Same-day urgent care

• Pink/Purple — Specific service types

  • Background: Purple
  • Text: White
  • Usage: Specialised services

• Green — Community or pharmacy pathways

  • Background: Green
  • Text: White
  • Usage: Self-care or community services

Custom Highlight Rules

Surgeries can create custom highlight rules to colour-code any phrase they choose.

Rule Configuration

• Phrase — Text to highlight
• Text Colour — Foreground colour
• Background Colour — Background colour
• Enabled/Disabled — Toggle rule on/off

Notes:

• Phrases are treated as the same if they only differ by case or extra spaces (for example, “Pharmacy” and “ pharmacy ”).
• If you try to add a phrase that already exists, the Admin Dashboard will guide you to edit the existing rule instead.

Use Cases

• Local service names
• Specific referral pathways
• Surgery-specific terminology
• Important warnings or notes

Rule Precedence

Custom rules take precedence over built-in highlights. This ensures local preferences override defaults when needed.

Highlight Colours

The system uses a consistent colour palette aligned with NHS design principles:

Colour Meanings

While colours can be customised, the default meanings are:

• Orange — Standard appointments, routine care
• Red — Urgent care, same-day appointments
• Pink/Purple — Specialised services, specific pathways
• Green — Community services, pharmacy, self-care
• Blue — Information, general guidance

Accessibility

All highlight colours meet WCAG 2.1 AA contrast requirements:

• Minimum 4.5:1 contrast for text
• 3:1 for large text and icons
• Accessible to colour-blind users
• Clear visual distinction

Configuration

Admin Access

Only surgery admins and superusers can configure highlight rules and high-risk buttons.

Highlight Rule Management

1. Add New Rule

   • Enter phrase to highlight
   • Choose text and background colours
   • Enable the rule
   • Save

2. Edit Existing Rule

   • Modify phrase or colours
   • Enable/disable as needed
   • Update settings

3. Delete Rule

   • Remove custom rules
   • Built-in rules cannot be deleted
   • Can be disabled instead

High-Risk Button Configuration

1. Select Symptoms

   • Choose from available symptoms
   • Add to high-risk list
   • Remove if no longer needed

2. Order Buttons

   • Arrange in priority order
   • Most critical first
   • Update as needed

3. Custom Buttons

   • Add custom high-risk entries
   • Link to specific symptoms
   • Remove when obsolete

Visual Impact

For Staff

Highlighting helps staff:

• Scan instructions quickly
• Identify key information instantly
• Notice urgent appointments
• Reduce reading time
• Improve accuracy

For Patients

Indirectly benefits patients through:

• Faster triage
• More accurate routing
• Reduced wait times
• Better care navigation

Best Practices

For Admins

1. Highlight Key Information Only

   • Avoid over-highlighting
   • Focus on critical phrases
   • Keep rules relevant

2. Use Consistent Colours

   • Stick to standard meanings
   • Document custom colours
   • Train staff on colour system

3. Review Regularly

   • Update rules as pathways change
   • Remove obsolete highlights
   • Add new relevant phrases

4. Test Visibility

   • Ensure colours are distinct
   • Check accessibility
   • Verify readability

For Staff

1. Understand Colour Meanings

   • Know what each colour indicates
   • Follow highlighted guidance
   • Ask if unclear

2. Use High-Risk Buttons

   • Familiarise with button locations
   • Use for urgent cases
   • Report missing symptoms

Technical Details

Highlight Engine Processing

1. Text is scanned for phrases
2. Custom rules applied first
3. Built-in rules applied second
4. HTML output with CSS classes
5. Rendered with appropriate colours

Performance

• Highlighting is fast and efficient
• No noticeable delay in display
• Works with all instruction lengths
• Cached where possible

Related Pages

• Symptom Library — Where highlighting appears
• Multi-Surgery & RBAC — Admin permissions
• Developer Guide — Technical implementation

Last updated: February 2026