Safeguarding notes are kept separately from the client's ordinary record so that a concern is visible to colleagues the moment they open the client, without being buried in the timeline. This guide shows where the control lives, how to add a note, and what colleagues see afterwards.
Where the control is
Open the client from Client cases and look at the top right of their header, beside Hide from other staff and Merge. What you see depends on whether this client already has safeguarding notes:
No notes yet — a quiet grey Add safeguarding note link.
Notes already recorded — a solid red Safeguarding note (N) button, where N is how many notes there are.
The red button is deliberate. It is the visible signal to every colleague who opens this client that there is safeguarding information they should read before they make contact.
Add a note
In the Case Management sidebar, open Client cases.
Open the client.
Select Add safeguarding note, or the red Safeguarding note (N) button if notes already exist.
The Safeguarding notes dialog opens, described as Safeguarding information recorded for this client. Handle with care. Any existing notes are listed newest first, each showing who wrote it and when. If there are none, it reads No safeguarding notes recorded.
If the writing box is not already showing, select Add safeguarding note at the bottom of the dialog.
Type your note under New safeguarding note.
Select Save note, or Cancel to abandon it.
The note appears immediately in the list above, and the header button turns red with the count updated.
What a safeguarding note is
It is free text. There are no categories, no severity levels and no tick boxes. Write what a colleague needs to know in plain words: what the concern is, what has been done about it, and anything they should be careful of when contacting the client.
Your name and the time are recorded for you. You do not add them; each saved note is stamped with your name and the date and time it was written.
A saved note cannot be edited or deleted here. The dialog has no edit or delete control, so a note is a permanent entry. Read it back before you save. If something needs correcting, add a further note that sets the record straight.
Who can see safeguarding notes
Safeguarding notes are held separately from the ordinary client record, but they are not a separate permission: they follow the same visibility rules as the client themselves. Anyone in your organisation who can open that client can open their safeguarding notes.
That means if the client — or their case — is hidden, the notes are hidden with them, visible only to the staff assigned and to organisation Owners. See How to hide a client, a case or your whole caseload if you need to narrow who can see a client.
Because there is no separate restriction, write safeguarding notes on the assumption that any colleague working with this client will read them.
Notes and troubleshooting
Save note is greyed out. The note is empty. Type something into New safeguarding note and the button becomes available.
I see "Could not save safeguarding note". The note was not saved. Your text is still in the box, so check your connection and try Save note again.
I wrote the note on the wrong client. It cannot be removed from this dialog. Add a note on the correct client, and add a further note on the wrong one explaining the mistake, then tell your organisation Owner.
The red button is not showing on a client I know has concerns. The red button only counts safeguarding notes. A concern recorded as an ordinary record on the Client record tab does not raise it — if it belongs here, add it as a safeguarding note too.
Where else does this show? Nowhere else on the client's page — the header button is the signal. See How to read the Client Overview screen for the rest of the header.