Safeguarding adults electronic referral form guidance
If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999.
This form is for non-urgent safeguarding concerns only. It may take up to 24 hours for the Safeguarding Team to receive and review your referral.
For urgent concerns, please contact the Adult Safeguarding Referral Line:
About This page
This page will help you:
- Understand the legal context of adult safeguarding.
- Prepare to complete the Safeguarding Adults Referral Form by outlining the questions you’ll be asked and the information you’ll need.
- Learn what happens after you submit the form.
Why Complete a Safeguarding Adults Referral?
Safeguarding adults is everyone’s responsibility. If you know, or suspect, that an adult is experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect, you must complete this referral form.
Where possible you should have gained the adults consent, however, there are circumstances where you must report without the adults consent, for further information, please see Section 42: Adult Safeguarding Enquiry Procedures (Section 2.47).
Under Section 42 of the Care Act 2014, the Local Authority must make enquiries if it believes an adult:
- Has care and support needs
- Is experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect
- Is unable to protect themselves due to those care and support needs.
We aim to support everyone who contacts us. However, not all adults will meet the criteria above. In such cases, you should consider signposting the individual to the most appropriate service or agency.
Note: Wherever possible, immediate steps should be taken to safeguard the adult while a decision is being made about whether the Local Authority has a duty to make enquiries.
What Information Will the Form Ask For?
To help us make a timely and informed decision, please provide as much detail as possible. The form will ask for:
- Your details as the referrer, including your email and an alternative contact.
- Location of the abuse. If it occurred outside Staffordshire, please contact the relevant local authority.
- Details of the adult at risk, including their care and support needs, how they are supported, and why they are unable to protect themselves.
- Date of the incident, if known.
- Type of abuse. Please read the guidance carefully, as required information may vary depending on the abuse type.
- Whether this is an isolated incident or part of a pattern, and what actions you’ve taken to prevent further harm.
- Details of the source of risk. You can include more than one adult at risk or source of risk. If you are reporting multiple individuals, please call the referral line instead.
- An option to upload supporting documents that may help us assess the situation.
What Happens After You Submit the Form?
Once submitted, your referral will be reviewed by the Staffordshire Adult Safeguarding Team (SAST). The team will assess the level of risk and assign a priority accordingly.
SAST operates within the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), which allows for quick access to other agencies that may hold relevant information. We may contact you or the adult at risk for more details. After gathering all necessary information, we will decide whether the adults situation meets the criteria for a Section 42 enquiry. If it does not, we will provide advice and guidance to you or the adult on where to seek support.
You will be informed of the outcome as soon as possible.
Referral