Making and receiving referrals

57. All routine referrals to colleagues and other services should be discussed with the client in advance and the client's consent obtained both to making the referral and also to disclosing information to accompany the referral. Reasonable care should be taken to ensure that:

n the recipient of the referral is able to provide the required service;
n any confidential information disclosed during the referral process will be adequately protected;
n the referral will be likely to benefit the client.

58. Prior to accepting a referral the practitioner should give careful consideration to:

n the appropriateness of the referral;
n the likelihood that the referral will be beneficial to the client;
n the adequacy of the client's consent for the referral.

If the referrer is professionally required to retain overall responsibility for the work with the client, it is considered to be professionally appropriate to provide the referrer with brief progress reports. Such reports should be made in consultation with clients and not normally against their explicit wishes.