Make a Professional Referral
For case managers, deputies, solicitors and NHS or local authority teams
Use this form to make a professional referral to Starling Homecare. It takes a couple of minutes and gives us enough to tell you honestly whether we can staff the package, what it would cost, and whether any part of it falls outside what we are registered to provide.
If you would rather set it out in your own words, call 01727 324 127 and ask for the registered manager, or read the background on our page for case managers, deputies and solicitors first.
Before You Make a Professional Referral
Three things worth checking first:
- We are registered with the Care Quality Commission for personal care. We do not provide nursing care, ventilation, tracheostomy care or PEG feeding.
- Visiting care covers St Albans, Harpenden, Welwyn Hatfield and Hemel Hempstead. Live-in care is available across Hertfordshire.
- Please use the client's initials or your own file reference rather than their full name, and keep clinical detail to what we need in order to answer you.
About you
Your name, your organisation, your role, and how to reach you. Role can be case manager, professional deputy, solicitor, discharge coordinator, social worker, or something else. Say which, in your own words.
About the package
The client's town or postcode, the main condition or reason for the referral, the hours and pattern you have in mind, the funding route, and a target start date if there is one.
Funding route
Private funding, a settlement or interim payment, NHS Continuing Healthcare, a personal health budget, direct payments, or local authority funding. If it is not settled yet, say so. It changes what we can commit to and when.
Risk and capacity
Anything about safeguarding, risk, or mental capacity that would shape how we assess. This does not need to be a full history. It needs to be enough that nothing lands as a surprise at the assessment.
Our reply
We will come back to you on whether we can staff the package, what it would cost, and anything in it we are not registered to provide. If we cannot take it, we will say so at that point rather than hold the referral open.
Assessment
If it works, we arrange an assessment with the client and whoever they want present, and agree the care plan with you. You keep the plan and the goals. We staff and supervise the team that delivers them.
Ongoing contact
Once a package is running you have a named registered manager as your point of contact, written records, incident and safeguarding notification, and updates at a frequency you set.
If the client is not yet discharged
Referrals ahead of a discharge date are welcome, and earlier is better. Recruiting a named team around one client takes longer than filling a slot on a round.
Keep it proportionate
Please send only what we need in order to answer the referral. Initials or a file reference rather than a full name, the town rather than the full address, and the condition rather than the medical history. If we take the referral forward, we will agree with you what further information we need and how it should reach us.
How the form reaches us
The form is sent to our office by email. If you are working to an information governance standard that does not allow that, tell us and we will agree another route.
Checking us first
Our registration and any published inspection findings can be checked on the Care Quality Commission register before you make a professional referral.
Call us
Call 01727 324 127 and ask for the registered manager. A five minute conversation is often enough to establish whether a package is workable before anyone writes anything down.
What we will tell you
Whether we cover the area, whether the package sits inside our registration, and a realistic view of how long it would take to staff properly. If the answer is no, you will get it straight away.
Common Questions About Making a Professional Referral
Do I need the client's consent before referring?
You should follow your own professional and information governance obligations on that. The form is designed so that you can make an initial enquiry using initials or a file reference rather than identifying the client, and we do not need identifying detail in order to tell you whether a package is workable.
Can I refer before a funding decision is made?
Yes. Tell us the position on the form. We can set out what a package would cost and what it would include so you have a realistic figure to work with, and we will be clear about what we can and cannot commit to while funding is unresolved.
What if the package needs nursing care as well as personal care?
We are registered for personal care, not nursing care, and we do not provide ventilation, tracheostomy care or PEG feeding. Where a client needs personal care alongside input from community nursing, we work alongside that team. Where the package is nursing led, it needs a nursing registered provider and we will say so.
Send the Referral
- Complete the form below. Use initials or a file reference for the client.
- We will reply on whether we can staff it, what it would cost, and anything outside our registration.
- If it works, we arrange an assessment and agree the care plan with you.
- If you would rather talk it through, call 01727 324 127 and ask for the registered manager.
Referral Form
Use initials or your own file reference for the client rather than their full name, and keep clinical detail to what we need in order to answer you. If you would rather talk it through first, call 01727 324 127 and ask for the registered manager.
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