The WA Department of Health reports that staff at the Central Referral Service (CRS) receive an average of 1250 referrals per day and all referrals are opened and reviewed by a nurse within one business day.
Although high priority (urgent) referrals are intended to be allocated to a hospital site within one business day and lower priority (semi/non-urgent) within three business days, current workforce shortages have created a backlog of referrals.
Urgent referrals are being allocated to a hospital site within one to two business days and semi/non-urgent referrals are being allocated within approximately seven business days.
The CRS team have worked hard over the Christmas and holiday period to reduce the backlog of semi/non-urgent referrals from 15 days.
In response to queries relating to the processing delays, WA Health recently provided an update for GPs on the public outpatient referral process.
The CRS reminds GPs the following referrals are not processed by the CRS and need to be sent directly to the appropriate hospital:
- immediate referrals for conditions that require review within the next seven days
- antenatal and obstetric
- mental health
- allied health.
CRS processes for all other referrals, and the complete list of specialties and services is available at the WA Department of Health website.
Contact details for hospitals receiving direct public referrals can be found in the ‘Contact details for direct referrals to WA Health outpatient services’ dropdown box.