Rationale

There are likely to be a number of options available locally to make a referral. Agreed referral criteria help referrers to make a decision as to what is the most appropriate service for a child or young person to be referred to.

Provision of good quality referral information can expedite the decision-making process, and help ensure that children, young people and their parents/carers access the most appropriate services. Agreed referral criteria also provide a framework which helps to ensure that potential service providers are given the most useful and appropriate information regarding the child or young person’s circumstances, and the reason for referral.

Referral algorithms allow children, young people, and their parents/carers to be signposted to the most appropriate service and help reduce the waiting time for access to treatment .

A referral management system is important to:

• enable prompt and accurate identification of the needs of children, young people and their parents/carers,
• determine urgency, and
• conduct a preliminary assessment of risk.