This guide explains how to read the Cases tab on a client in Case Management: what each case card tells you, and what the badges, dates and counts mean. It does not cover creating, editing or discharging a case.
Open the Cases tab
In the Case Management sidebar, open Client cases.
Select the client you want to look at.
Select the Cases tab.
The tab label carries a count, for example Cases (2). That is the number of cases you can currently see on this client.
A client can hold more than one case. Each piece of work — a new referral, a different reason for support, a second episode months later — can be its own case. The Cases tab shows one card per case, so a client with three cases shows three cards.
Read a case card, top to bottom
Colour dot and case name. The coloured dot is the case's own colour, chosen when the case was created or edited. It is a visual marker only. Next to it is the case name. If a case has no name, the app shows a fallback such as Case 4821 using the case's own number. Selecting the name or the top of the card opens the case.
Status badge. On the right of the card, the current status is shown as a badge you can select to change. The wordings you may see are Active, Waiting, On hold, Pre-triage, Inactive, Discharged - successful, Discharged - no show, Discharged - other, Discharged - deceased, Declined other, Declined service not accepting referrals, Declined inappropriate referral, Declined duplicate referral and Client declined.
"Active case" badge. Only one of a client's cases carries Active case. It is the case the app treats as the current one, so it is pre-selected when you record something against the client from outside a case. It is worked out automatically — the most recent case that is Active, Waiting, On hold or Pre-triage — rather than being set by hand.
"Hidden" badge. A case marked Hidden is only visible to the staff assigned to that case and to organisation Owners. Everyone else does not see the case at all. See the caseload privacy guide for what hiding does and who can do it.
Triage and priority. Under the title you see Triage: followed by High, Medium, Low or Not triaged, with a coloured dot, and Priority: followed by High, Medium or Low. Not triaged means nobody has set a triage level yet — it is not the same as low.
Referred and Completed dates. Referred is the date the case was referred in. Completed only appears once the case has a completion date.
Key needs and Additional. Key needs lists the main needs recorded on the case; Additional lists any secondary needs. Both are free text, so they show whatever your organisation records.
Referrer and referral reason. Referrer shows the referrer details held on the case, and the referral reason is shown underneath. Select See more to open a Referral details panel with Referrer name, Relation, Email, Phone, Referrer details and Referral reason. Select See less to close it again.
Tags. The Tags button opens the tag list for that case, and any tags already applied appear as coloured chips beside it. Tags apply to that case only. See the guide on adding a tag to a client case.
List membership. If your organisation uses lists, a List button appears next to Tags, and any lists the case is on are shown as On lists: .... If your organisation does not use lists, neither the button nor the line appears.
Assigned staff. The last control shows the staff assigned to that case by name, or Assign staff when nobody is assigned yet. Assignment is per case, not per client.
Read the counts strip
At the bottom of each card is a row of counts:
Records — records logged against this case (contacts, appointments, notes and actions).
Messages — messages sent to the client and linked to this case.
Trackers — wellbeing trackers on this case.
Concerns — concerns recorded on this case.
Tasks — tasks linked to this case.
Every one of these counts this case only. If a client has two cases, work logged on the other case does not appear in these numbers. A client-level total will usually be higher than any single card.
The other controls on the tab
New case, at the top right of the tab, starts a new case on this client.
The ⋯ button on each card is the case actions menu (edit, discharge, hide and delete).
View Case — at the top of the card and again at the bottom — opens the case itself.
Those actions are covered elsewhere: see How to view a case in detail for what is inside a case, and How to add records from inside a case for logging work against one.
Notes
If a client looks like it has fewer cases than you expected, one or more may be hidden from you. Hidden cases are only visible to their assigned staff and to organisation Owners.
The counts refresh when you reload the client. If you have just saved something in another tab, reopen the Cases tab to see the number move.
Changing the status badge on a card is an immediate change to the case. If you only want to read the case, use View Case instead.
Related guides
How to view a case in detail
How to add records from inside a case
How to add a tag to a client case
How to hide a client, a case or your whole caseload (caseload privacy)