You can create a referral when adding a new note or from an existing note (escalating a note to a referral). Additional referral notes can be created and referred to another role defined in the referral steps (escalating the referral). All referral notes are linked together keeping them in a chain or trail.
When you create a referral note, in starts a referral loop. The two options in the loop are to refer the note to a role or close the referral loop.
Let's take a look at creating and viewing a referral note along with the referral options available to you.
Creating a New Referral Note
Open the Learner Profile where you want to add a new referral note. Click on the Add Note button to display the New Note screen.
This will display the new note window. Click on the Create a referral button located in the top right corner of the window. This will display the roles to who you can refer the note.
In this example, we can see that the note can be referred to Guidance and Counselling.
Click on the role who you want to refer the note to. The role will change colour and the note will change to a referral note.
Note: the list of roles for who you can refer to the note are pre-defined and setup as part of the referral workflow.
Additionally, when you refer to a role such as Year Heads or Guidance, for example, it will only go to the person assigned the Year Head or Guidance role to the learner profile. Not to every member of the role.
The referral note will now appear in the list with the REFERRAL icon. Since this is a new referral, the status will be Open. It will also show who it is currently referred to - in our case, it is Guidance and Counselling.
Viewing a Referral Note
The only people who can view the referral note are;
The person who created the referral note
A person who is a member of a role in any of one the referral steps
Note: If a referral note is referred to the Year Head role, only the person assigned the year head to the learner will see the note - not all members of the role.
Example: a person who did not create the referral note and is not a member of a role in any of the referral steps
Here we can see that in this case, the person can see that a referral note has been created and that it is currently referred to Guidance and Counselling.
However, they cannot view the note as stated in the note preview text. The referral note is greyed out and they cannot click to open the note.
Example: a person who did create the note or is a member of a role in the referral steps
Here we can see that the person can see the referral note has been created and that it is currently referred to Guidance and Counselling.
They can see the preview of the referral note and the note and they can click to open it.
This is what the note will look like when it is opened.
Example: a person in the role that the note was referred to
In this case, the note has been referred to a role and the person is the member of that role.
When the person opens the referral note to view it, they can then do either of two options;
Refer the note to another role defined in one of the referral steps
Close the referral loop
Actions when Viewing a Referral Note
There are two actions available to you when you are viewing a note that has been referred to you. These are;
Refer the note to another role (escalate the referral)
Close the referral loop (close the referral)
Refer the Note to Another Role (escalate the referral)
You can refer the note to another role in the referral loop. This is done in the case where you need to escalate the referral to another role. You can only do this if the note is currently referred to your role e.g. "Year Heads" or "Guidance and Counselling".
When you perform this action, you will be adding another referral note. This would contain any information that is relevant to the next role in the referral process.
Example: Let's say a teacher created a referral note and referred it to the Guidance and Counselling role. You are the Guidance Counsellor for the learner. You read the referral note, speak to the learner and then call a parent. You now want to refer the original teacher's note, to the Management role. You need to include any relevant information such as the discussion with the learner and their parent when making the referral.
First, open the original note from the teacher that is referred to you. Click on the referral options, in our case Referred to Guidance and Counselling. You will then see the list of options which are to either Refer to Management or Close the Referral Loop.
Let's go ahead and click on the Refer to Management option.
This will create another referral note allowing you to fill in your details. The new referral note to Management will be linked to the original referral note from the teacher. This way, both notes stay together in a chain or trail.
Once you create the new referral note, you will see it displayed in the list. It will be linked to the original note with both referral notes shown together. The status of the note will also change showing it is now referred to the Management role.
Closing the Referral Loop
The second action you can take is to close the referral loop. This will set the status to Closed and prevent any further referral options such as referring the note to another role.
Note: If a referral note has reached the end of the loop - it has been referred to all the available roles defined in the referral steps - the only option will be to close the referral loop.
Let's take a look at our example. In this case, the note is currently referred to Management. When we open this note up as a person in the Management role, we only have the option to Close the Referral Loop. That is because there are no other roles to refer the note to so it has reached the end of the loop
Note: the note does not need to be at the end of the referral steps for the option to close the referral loop. This can be actioned by any role defined in the referral steps once the note is currently referred to that role.
When you click the Close Referral Loop option, the process is the same as referring a note. It will link to any original referral notes, keeping them together in a chain or trail.
You can enter any closing information or outcomes into the referral note. The original referral notes are at the side for your review.
Once you create the closing referral note, you will see it displayed in the list. It will be linked to any original referral notes and all shown together. The status of the note will also change showing the process as closed and by whom.
