diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8a4ecb0217be35f71e2096836e198dd3b76779b6..21c4ff6133896f8a62cfbc13fc8d4283737107c9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -11,6 +11,18 @@ As well as providing a semantic logger, this gem handles datadog telemetry assoc
 * metrics
    * statsd is automatically attached to datadog runtime metrics and may also be used for custom metrics.
 
+### Sending metrics
+
+Ensure the metric name is in the format: `nexus.{component}.{major}.{minor}`
+
+Where _major and minor_ are specific to the component logic e.g. `nexus.uploads.clamscan.pass`
+
+For example, to increment a count:
+
+```
+NexusSemanticLogger.metrics.increment('nexus.users.registration.complete')
+```
+
 # Local gem development
 
 Steps to run this gem from local sources in one the nexus 'staged build' rails components:
diff --git a/lib/nexus_semantic_logger.rb b/lib/nexus_semantic_logger.rb
index 6867bf49bf6fd7932ac74fe8386c1cecd3e92349..99e64941cebda069325783b9bf8160ea063819ae 100644
--- a/lib/nexus_semantic_logger.rb
+++ b/lib/nexus_semantic_logger.rb
@@ -6,4 +6,9 @@ require 'nexus_semantic_logger/datadog_singleton'
 require 'nexus_semantic_logger/datadog_tracer'
 
 module NexusSemanticLogger
+
+  # Get application wide object for sending metrics.
+  def metrics
+    DatadogSingleton.instance
+  end
 end
diff --git a/lib/nexus_semantic_logger/datadog_singleton.rb b/lib/nexus_semantic_logger/datadog_singleton.rb
index c270974a3e7b02c971169b00bed2ab2a3432713a..927b26a59e83bae22faff18fbd8130c27c68687b 100644
--- a/lib/nexus_semantic_logger/datadog_singleton.rb
+++ b/lib/nexus_semantic_logger/datadog_singleton.rb
@@ -3,7 +3,8 @@ require 'singleton'
 
 module NexusSemanticLogger
   # Application wide location to get datadog objects.
-  # Can be moved to its own gem in future, and there is scope to make the usage code even leaner.
+  # dogstatsd-ruby maintains its own queue and thread for flushing, so the client code should never create its
+  # own statsd instance.
   class DatadogSingleton
     include Singleton
     attr_accessor :statsd, :tags