Access Care Connect gives you a central place to manage all incoming care referrals. You can receive referrals automatically via email, create them manually, track them through a defined workflow, and convert confirmed referrals into service location records in Access Care Rostering.
Referral workflow states
Referrals move through the following states:
Review: The initial state when a referral arrives.
Accepted: The provider agrees to take the referral.
Rejected: The provider declines the referral.
Lost: The referral was accepted but awarded to another provider.
Confirmed: The local authority confirms the care package is awarded.
You can move referrals both forwards and backwards through the workflow.
Create a referral manually
To create a referral without an email:
Go to the Referral Management section and click Add Referral.
Enter all service user details, visit requirements, and referrer information. Branch and Area are required fields when creating a referral manually.
Click Save.
Link a referral to an existing service user
When processing an email-based referral, Access Care Connect automatically attempts to match the service user based on postcode, address line 1, first name, and last name.
To manually link a referral to a returning service user:
Open the referral.
Toggle on Returning Service User.
Search by name or address to find the existing record.
Once linked, personal and address details become read-only, as they are pulled live from Access Care Rostering.
Convert a referral to a service location
Before converting a referral, the following fields must be completed: First Name, Last Name, at least one phone number, Address Line 1, City/Town, Postcode, Branch, Area, Vulnerability, and Service Priority. These fields are not mandatory when a referral is created, only at the point of conversion.
To convert a referral:
Open the referral.
Click Convert to Service Location.
Access Care Connect will:
Create a service location record in ACR.
Automatically apply a 'Care Connect Service Suspend' to prevent accidental rostering before setup is complete.
Move the referral to 'Converted' status.
Make the referral read-only.
The suspend must be manually removed in ACR when the service user is ready for rostering.
📌 Note: The Convert to Service Location function is only available for new service users. If a referral is linked to an existing returning service user, the conversion button is disabled because the record already exists in Access Care Rostering.
Track referral sources
The Referrers section maintains a database of organisations, for example, local authorities, their organisational contacts, and individual referrers. Linking referrals to their source enables reporting on referral volumes by referrer, conversion rates, and work won through specific organisations or contacts.
View the audit trail
All state changes are tracked with the user and timestamp. When a referral is accepted, a snapshot of the availability data at that point is saved for accountability. The full audit history is visible within each referral record.