Staff guide

This guide is for reception staff, care navigators and anyone else who answers patient calls or messages and uses the Signposting Toolkit to route them. You don’t need any clinical training to use it. Each card is written for non-clinical staff in plain English, and your practice’s clinical reviewer checks the wording.

On a call: the 60-second version

1. Search. Type the main reason for the call in the search box, for example sore throat or rash. Press / to jump to the search box.
2. Urgent? Use the red buttons. For something like a stroke or sepsis, the red high-risk buttons at the top of the page open that card in one click.
3. Check the age badge. Make sure the card is for your patient’s age group: Under 5, 5–17 or Adult.
4. Read the brief instruction, then the Important Notice if there is one, then the instructions in order.
5. Look for urgent signs. If the caller describes anything the card says needs 999, A&E or a same-day appointment, follow that advice straight away.
6. Book or direct the patient as the card says, using your practice’s appointment names.
7. Not sure? Don’t guess. Ask a clinician or your duty lead.

Your first day

1. Sign in with the details your practice admin gave you.
2. Check the practice name at the top of the screen is yours.
3. Have your headset, phone and clinical system ready before you start taking calls.
4. Open the menu (☰) to see the other parts of the toolkit your practice uses, such as the Practice Handbook.
5. Find the ? button at the top right of the screen. It opens help for whatever page you’re on (see Getting help in the toolkit).
6. Ask your practice admin or clinical lead:
   • what each highlight colour means at your practice
   • who to escalate to, and how (for example, the duty GP)
   • which parts of the toolkit your practice uses

Practise first

You can try the toolkit without affecting real patients. The online demo has a set of real, approved cards to search and open, and nothing you do there is saved. It’s a good way to get used to the search and the layout of a card before your first shift.

Getting help in the toolkit

Select the ? button at the top right of any page, or Help & Documentation in the menu. The Help panel:

• starts with the guides for the page you’re on, such as Finding a symptom on the signposting page
• searches every guide as you type: describe what you want to do, and pick a result to go straight to that section of these pages
• lists the guides for your role. Practice admins also see the guides for setting up and running the toolkit
• ends with Get support: how to report a problem, ask for a card to be changed, or raise a clinical safety concern

What’s new in the menu lists recent changes. A blue dot beside it means something has changed since you last looked.

In this guide

Keep it to hand

Print the quick reference card and keep it by the phones. It fits on one A4 page, with space to write in your duty clinician and toolkit admin.