We’ve found that we can more quickly and efficiently reach decisions about referrals when an employer has a clear internal process in place for escalating concerns to their senior leadership and clear governance arrangements for completing and submitting referrals to us.
Some principles to consider are:
- Assign one senior person, such as the person responsible for nursing and midwifery staff, to have oversight and responsibility for signing-off on referrals.
- Provide us with the name of one person within your organisation who can respond to our requests for information about referrals. This could be the person (mentioned above) who has oversight and responsibility for referrals. Alternatively, it may be a senior person who is responsible for submitting referrals along with supporting documentation.
- Try to be sure that the person who makes or signs-off on a referral is not the same person who investigated the concerns. That way the person making the referral can review what has been done so far. They can decide whether to refer the case to us, taking account of their own processes and policies, this resource, and, when necessary, advice provided through our advice line.
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