The Transformation team has worked with key stakeholders to create a new streamlined customer referral process.
All part of the Council’s ‘No Wrong Door’ approach, the process comprises a new contact form featured on our Cost of Living support webpage. This process will not replace but will compliment the existing referral routes into services and supports.
The aim of the new referral process is to allow customers to share their contact information with us once, then, behind the scenes we will direct this referral information to relevant service provider – both internal Council services and external support services – who can provide the most appropriate next steps or guidance and support.
What is the new Corporate Referral Process?
The new process has been designed to ensure that customers are directly routed to the right service based on the information they provide about their current situation and need.
This links to our Digital Strategy and our strategic commitment to a ‘No Wrong Door’ approach across North Ayrshire. We have engaged with customers as part of our Digital Strategy refresh to identify how customers feel about accessing services, and many customers advised that digital is their preferred contact method.
What are the benefits?
The new referral form supports a dignified customer journey with us as customers can provide their contact information once and will be directly routed to the right team and service to support with their needs.
Services involved in the referral process will be aware of the support a customer has requested from the moment the form is submitted.
This will enable the relevant support service to act as quickly and efficiently as possible to implement the support needed, and hopefully reduce the duplication of referring and signposting between services.
The referral form will be accessible from the North Ayrshire Council and HSCP public websites. The process will be used by Customer Services staff at the point a customer gets in touch and will allow for referrals to be routed to multiple teams as required to provide the specialist support and advice that our residents may require.
Health and Wellbeing supports
The referral process recognises that many people have complex needs, particularly around Health and Wellbeing. The first point of contact for support remains a person’s GP Practice.
There are a wide range of community and Third Sector supports available, which may require individuals to directly self-refer. As a result, we have linked our Cost of Living webpage directly to the North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnerships website care and support page. This will enable people to find a support which meet their needs, without having to use the digital referral process.
Accessing Our Council – New Corporate Referral Process to access advice and support services
As part of the Accessing Our Council Transformation workstream which commenced in March 2022, the Transformation team in conjunction with services across the Council have been working on the digital workstream to improve access to Council services.
One of the priority areas was to review how customers access advice and support services for the following:
- Digital access and skills
- Benefits, welfare rights, debt, and money budgeting support
- Employment advice and support
- Homelessness advice and support
- Housing rent advice and support (for North Ayrshire Tenants)
- Health and wellbeing support
The review highlighted several barriers with the current process which could be improved, these include:
- Multiple access routes into support services;
- Customers were required to contact multiple service providers and repeat their current situation to be referred for the right support;
- Different referral forms / processes for accessing each service area;
- Services were signposting customers to different support services with a reliance on the customer initiating contact with other service providers;
- Services do not have visibility if a customer is engaging with other service providers.
Another example of the Council’s transformative digital evolution
The additional referral pathway reflects the priorities and principals of our new Digital Strategy by designing our services with our people and customers. The diagram below provides a high-level visual representation of the process flow for requests actioned via the Corporate Referral Online Form.
