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Practice tip: Responding to sudden change in referral patterns

Managing change can be one of the trickiest aspects of working in partnership.

In this post, HJA Partnerships Director Lottie Turner talks through how to approach an unexpected change in referrals in a health justice partnership.


Let’s talk about the challenge of a sudden or unexpected change in the pattern of referrals in a health justice partnership. While it may be tempting to start thinking about and implementing individual solutions to a challenge like this (perhaps trying to schedule more training regarding the identification of unmet need and how to refer; or building an entirely new referral process in and on behalf of your HJP), we’d encourage you to consider this as a partnership-based challenge that may well benefit from a partnership-based solution.

So, before you go too far down the path of solutions, pick up the phone and chat with your partners. They may well have their own experience of what’s getting in the way of referrals, and – together – you can co-create a solution that has the potential to benefit everyone, including the people the HJP is here to help.

Useful questions

Taking this challenge from the perspective of a legal partner, some useful questions to explore with your health partners include:

  • How confident do health practitioners feel to ‘issue spot’ the legal problems the HJP is able to help with? What might make them more confident?
  • What makes it hard to make a referral to the HJP? You can ask further questions here regarding any shifts in practitioner knowledge or organisational priorities and commitments.
  • What do health practitioners look for, and what do they expect from a ‘good’ referral?
  • What does timely, appropriate and streamlined referral look like for health practitioners? What’s needed to achieve that in the partnership?

A key opportunity

These conversations also provide a key opportunity for the legal partner to share what ‘successful’ referrals look like from their perspective, testing this against their health partner’s understanding, knowledge and capacity.

Remember, while it may feel easy to jump straight to solutions, there might be a range of factors that are contributing to the problem from your partner’s perspective that you’re not aware of. However well intended, jumping too quickly to solutions may send the message that your partner’s experience and perspective isn’t seen or valued. Opening a conversation regarding referral could create space for a new level of commitment to your work together.

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A guide to developing and implementing a health justice partnership that responds to local conditions and needs.

Guide