The Central Referral Service (CRS) processes approximately 1,200 outpatient referrals daily, ensuring each referral is reviewed and allocated to the appropriate speciality and site.
To ensure accurate and timely triaging by hospital clinicians, it’s crucial that referrals meet the minimum requirements for WA outpatient referrals, particularly adhering to Referral Access Criteria (RAC).
If the CRS team were to send a referral that did not contain the required mandatory information to the hospital, the referral would be cancelled at site, and this can lead to delays in care for your patient.
The CRS has advised the following:
- If a referral lacks the necessary information or does not adhere to the RAC for that specialty, the CRS team are required to cancel the referral and return to the GP for revision.
- If a referral is sent to the clinicians at site for triaging and they do not accept the referral, a rejection letter will be sent to the referrer. Some hospital specialties send rejection letters directly to the referrer with the reason. Other hospital specialties will provide the reason and CRS will send a rejection letter on their behalf quoting the reason provided by the clinician following triage.
- Whilst CRS manages the allocation of referrals, it is not responsible for setting the RAC or performing clinical triage. These responsibilities lie solely with the specialists and clinicians at the receiving hospital.
Concerns about specific referrals can be discussed with the CRS team on 1300 551 142.