There has always been an issue about how professional organisations refer clients to others. Many organisations opt out of the referral problem altogether by 'signposting' clients to a range of options, leaving them to make the connection. This often leads to clients giving up the quest for help and continue to live with the problem - or 'lumping it'.

Agencies and organisations that attempt to make referrals often struggle. Their staff may not have sufficient information to know which services are available and appropriate. They may spend a large amount of time trying to get through on the telephone or send emails they never get a response to. In almost all cases, the agency making the referral gets little or no feedback on whether the client actually got the help they needed.

The push towards partnership working in many spheres is an attempt to overcome some of these issues but, without a central mechanism for organisations to communicate with each other and the outside world, there is still a missing piece at the heart of these partnerships and networks.