safeguarding referral

[IWishICouldDisappear]

Can anyone explain what a safeguarding referral means please? I talked to my gp about some difficulties I am having at home and she said she was going to do a safeguarding referral. I didn't want to ask her to explain what it meant as I had already been in the appointment for much longer than I should have been.

I would take it to mean that she thinks there is a potential risk of harm to someone and is making a referral to the relevant agency for an assessment of this risk.
Who she is making a referral to is going to depend who she thinks is as risk of harm.
But for dc it would be children's social care.

I imagine a referral to Children's services? Or it could be to the safe guarding lead at the practice?

ss referral

To Children's Social Care, Adults' Social Care or something like Domestic Abuse services?

It will be to adult or children's social care

If your difficulties involve any kind of domestic abuse, and you have children, then your GP is obliged to report this to SS I'm afraid.
Nobody wants SS involvement, but try to think of it as a source of help and support. If you need help to change your situation, then this may be exactly what you need.

It depends on your issue. If children are involved, she'll be referring to social services. If you haven't harmed or expressed intent to harm children in your home, they'll be helping you and the child/ren. If you have, they'll work to protect your children.

If you'd like more specific advice or answers, we can help you if you can give more detail x

when I had PND I had a referral for SW assessment because of my low mood and self-harm thoughts, is it something like this? try not to be worried , I had a positive experience and was discharged very quickly.

Safeguarding referrals aren't necessarily a bad thing- the intention would be to make sure you and your dependents are safe, perhaps by putting in support mechanisms, or just taking the time to follow up with you in a less time pressured setting so they can signpost you to services or check you are doing ok.

Thank you that's helpful. No children in the household.

Op I’ve just read your other post and it sounds like they mean the police which is understandable given what you’ve posted on here. Hopefully this will be the help you need.