Elements and Performance Criteria

Need for referral may include:
Patient with a counselling need beyond the practitioner's own level of skill
Client/patient in need of ongoing support or counselling
Client/patient with a personality disorder
Disclosure, by a minor, of abuse
Suicidal or homicidal client/patient
Referral to a GP for initial or follow up pathology
Referral to GP/health services because of a/or suspicion of notifiable disease
Practitioner establishes a supervisory, social or sexual relationship with client/patient
Practitioner identifies with client/patient transference or counter-transference

Other health care professionals/services may include but are not limited to:
Professional counsellors or psychologists
Social or health workers
Mental health units or hospitals
Doctors
Psychiatrists
Law officers
Dieticians
Physiotherapists/chiropractors
Complementary health therapists

Complementary health care practitioners may include:
More experienced homoeopaths with or without a speciality
Naturopaths
Herbalists
Acupuncturists
Massage therapists
Osteopaths
Chiropractors

Support services may include:
Local child care centre
Local welfare centre
Local church groups
Local other than Christian groups
Life line
Domestic violence telephone service
Others

Referral may be by:
Written communication
Verbal communication

Client records may include:
A copy of the whole care record
A synopsis of the case record
Homoeopathic specific information via eg Standard Case Recording form/s, symptom descriptor forms, treatment evaluation and progress sheets

Briefing may include:
Verbal communication eg telephone or face to face
Electronic communication eg email
Conventional written letter

Critical aspects of assessment:
Ability to communicate effectively
Demonstrated appreciation of the relative merits of the treatment options available in regard to cost, benefit and efficiency of such procedures
Knowledge of the profession's special characteristics, historical mileposts, aspirations and strengths
Knowledge of health care professionals/services locally, nationally, and internationally and of their relationship to other professions and organisations
Consulting colleagues for special expertise
Ability to write referrals, certificates and correspondence
Demonstrated ability to formulate referral plans and arrange referrals

Underpinning knowledge and skills:
Knowledge of the role of other health professionals and support services
Knowledge of the paradigms, including fee environments, within which other professions function
Knowledge of and ability to apply referral procedures
Ability to write third party and medico legal reports, certificates and correspondence
Knowledge of what constitutes a medical emergency or referral

Resource implications:
Resource requirements may include:
Contact directories

Method of assessment:
Assessment may include:
Simulations
Oral questioning and discussion
Case studies and scenarios
Conventional letters or electronic communication

Context of assessment:
This unit can be assessed both on and off the job. Assessment may contain both theoretical and practical components and examples covering a range of clinical situations.