What is a warm handover?
A warm handover is where you have a conversation with a client or patient and identify other support that they would benefit from that your organisation does not provide, but that you know others do. You obtain the client's consent to pass their personal information on to those organisations and you fill in an electronic form and select which organisations the referral goes to. The organisations will then contact the client to offer support.
This process is to be used with vulnerable clients or those that you feel will not contact an organisation if you just signpost them to that organisation.
Why should I do this?
- Services and organisations are ready to help you, and to step in and support your customers
- The process is quick and easy - you just need to fill out the form and it will all be done
- Partner organisations have come together to support clients in an efficient and holistic way and using the warm handover means that they do not have to keep repeating their story
What do I need to do?
Links to help you
- Find out What services partners do and don't provide (the Gliffy)
- A printable version of the Gliffy - remember once printed you wll not be able to use the hyperlinks and it will go out of date so check here regularly for the current version
- What does a good referral looks like:
- Newsletters - keeping uptodate with partners' news and changes to services
Useful documents
Trouble shooting and FAQs
The form has not been submitted and I do not have a reference number
If you leave the form for 15 minutes or more in the middle of completing it it will time out and will not send. You will need to start again.
I cannot open the referral email
Referrals are sent securely to organisations outside Suffolk County Council. You will need to use OME (Office 365 Message Encryption) to open the referral. Follow the intsructions on screen and use the one time password option. More help can be found here.
Where can I get more help and who can I ask?
Please see the Hints and Tips document. You will also find a list of Warm Handover leads for each partner organisation at the end of the document.
If you would like other FAQs added to this page or want to suggest improvements to the tools and guidance documents please contact us.
“The Warm handover has proved to be an excellent facility that allows us to liaise securely online with our partners and ensure good outcomes for our clients” Citizens Advice North East Suffolk