Navigation hubs transform patient care in Derbyshire

Health and care teams in Derbyshire now have access to a comprehensive helpline service to help them direct urgent and complex patients to the right place for their care.

Benefits expected from the hubs will be reduced hospital admissions, improved patient care, and ensuring that NHS funding is being used in the best way.

The Central Navigation Hub (CNH) provides 24/7 remote system-wide clinical advice staffed by Advanced Practitioners and GPs from DHU Healthcare and has been running since 2022.

While the growing network of Local Navigation Hubs offer neighbourhood-based support with local knowledge and coordination available, Mon-Friday 8am to 6.30pm and daily from January 2026.

The Central Navigation Hub takes around 3,800 calls a month and provides remote clinical advice to healthcare professionals facing complex decisions, helping redirect patients from Emergency Departments to more appropriate services, including the growing network of local navigation hubs. Had it not been for the hub redirecting these patients, the cost to the health and care system would have been £13m over the last 3 years.

Eight Local Navigation Hubs are being launched to complement the CNH across Derbyshire, with two already operational in the High Peak, and South Derbyshire. The six further hubs will launch in every neighbourhood over the next few months.

The local hubs will support practitioners with real time coordination, expert community knowledge and multidisciplinary team (MDT) decision-making for urgent and proactive care needs with community GP oversight helping to reduce unnecessary 999 calls, A&E visits, hospital admissions, and bed days.

By encouraging co-location and virtual collaboration across sectors, these hubs will strengthen workforce integration, while robust monitoring and reporting will ensure quality, accountability, and continuous improvement.

Kirsty Osborn, Deputy Director for Urgent Care in Derbyshire for Derbyshire United Healthcare, said: “The Central Navigation Hub has made a big impact on how we manage clinical uncertainty, especially during high-pressure periods like winter.

“When frontline teams are unsure or stuck, we can step in, think collectively, and find a better route for the patient. Because we know Derby and Derbyshire so well, we know what care options are available. That might mean coordinating a two-hour urgent response, connecting frontline teams with a community nurse, or advising on self-care with appropriate follow-up.

“We’ve seen time and again how the right service, accessed quickly, can mean the difference between a long hospital stay and a safe recovery at home.”

Angela Wright, Assistant Director Place Development & Delivery at the ICB, who helped set up the Local Navigation Hubs, said: “It’s been a while in the planning, but we know that when clinicians are confused about who to call it often ends up in unnecessary A+E trips and hospital admissions. These are neither good for the patient or for the taxpayer.

“This new system means there is now a local team at the end of a phone ready to navigate the patient to the most appropriate solution for their health.

“It’s also important to say that patients cannot call these numbers and should use the usual channels when they need care such as 111, the GP or 999 in an emergency. However, people might notice how they get their care changes because of this model helping them get seen closer to home, possibly more quickly and avoiding hospital where that is appropriate.”

In October 2025, the Central Navigation Hub deflected 759 Category 3 and 4 ambulance calls away from East Midlands Ambulance Service, and redirected 1,761 GP appointments to more appropriate services such as self-care/treatment, Urgent Treatment Centres or community teams.

A first responder from East Midlands Ambulance Service said: “There are often times when we arrive on scene and it’s not always clear if there might be a safer, more appropriate option for the patient. With just one call to Central Navigation Hub, we can explore options together and put a plan in place quickly.

“We often need to make complex clinical decisions, where referral criteria is unclear, or where there is no obvious option, so it’s reassuring that we don’t have to make these decisions alone.”

The phone numbers for all the hubs will be communicated via your organisation.