Last week I was privileged to join one of the Primary Care Navigators (PCNs) in Lincoln on a patient visit. It is difficult, if not impossible, to put my experience into words. It was such a powerful feeling. After the visit, I felt energised and determined to keep going with my PhD.
The PCNs programme at Age UK Lincoln is funded by Lincolnshire West CCG. Currently five PCNs are enrolled across Lincolnshire West, supporting patients in their task of ‘navigating’ the care system. This means that they help these patients find their way through health, social and third sector care. It is easy to get lost in or simply figure out which services are available. If we eventually are lucky enough to figure this out, we are likely to be overwhelmed by the countless options and might be in doubt of which service to choose. If we then finally select a service, we face questions on how to access it. Although I have been reading quite a lot on the topic of care navigators for my PhD, seeing the PCNs at work with my own eyes was something totally different.
On our patient visit last week, I witnessed the importance of what these PCNs do. Just like many older people, the older lady we visited was diagnosed with multiple long term conditions (LTCs). During our patient visit, the PCN went through every aspect (health, social and third sector care) that was of relevance to and applicable for this individual patient. The needs of this patient were thoroughly assessed. Based on this information the PCN went through the services that are available, relevant and beneficial to this lady in her specific situation. Besides providing a tailored summary of services, the PCN was in the position to refer the patient (with patient’s consent).
We went into this lady’s house, where she was lying in bed and depending on the informal care mainly given by one single family member. After an hour and a half, we left the patient with referrals in place to different social services and third sector care.
If the PCN had not visited this lady, the main care giver of this patient (family member) would have been left on her own (admitting that she was not sure how to keep doing it on her own in combination with her job), the patient would have continued to feel lonely (and have an increased risk for depression) and unsafe in terms of fall risk, no checks would have been done to see if she was entitled to benefits, no one would have known that the service that the hospital arranged for her in returning home had not come through, etc.
Reality is, this lady is not an exception! She was lucky enough to be referred to the PCN service of Age UK Lincoln, but numerous patients either don’t get referred or live in places where PCN services don’t exist.
Spending this hour and a half with a passionate PCN, the patient and her family, was an absolute pleasure! This visit brought back the purpose and importance of my PhD. It gave me renewed energy and motivation to continue the research. Looking into literature, gathering and analysing data, writing reports, etc. are important elements of a PhD or any academic career really. But, when your research takes place in the context of health and social care, it is invaluable to get a feel of and understand the people that will be affected by your research, the people for whom you – in the end – do your research!
A big thank you to the PCN team and Age UK Lincoln, all of you are making a difference on a daily basis! The different services Age UK Lincoln provides are an asset to the community and we should be proud that they offer a PCN service to the citizens in Lincoln (and West Lincolnshire).
If anyone would like to be a part of research in care navigation or get more information please get in touch with me (jvos@lincoln.ac.uk). Alternatively, if you (or anyone you know) are living in England, aged 55 or over and suffer from at least two LTCs, you can participate in our questionnaire online or request a paper copy.
