ABSTRACT
This chapter is based on the experience of link workers working in general practices (GP) and making use of practices’ contacts with patients and knowledge of their problems. An army of people with job titles including link workers, navigators, connectors and organisers has been recruited with the general remit of making better use of community resources for health. A link worker is much more than a signpost to community resources, therefore, and is best considered as an addition to the generalist function in primary care. Experience of working with link workers is then described by Mark Kelvin, the Programme Director; Dr Maria Duffy, whose practice hosted a link worker and Dr Peter Cawston, the GP lead for the Programme. Some Link Worker services have a set number of appointments or sessions more akin to acute care than primary care. If Link Workers simply support patients to navigate a fragmented system, the system itself will remain fragmented.
